And the drip-drip-drip of sophisticated, knowledgeable information about the circumstances surrounding Stephen Strasburg's departure from the Nationals rotation continues.
Now this, from the Los Angeles Times:
The doctor who performed elbow surgery on Stephen Strasburg said he did not tell the Washington Nationals to shut down their ace pitcher.
"I wasn't asked," Dr. Lewis Yocum told the Los Angeles Times.
Now this, from Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo's appearance on the Holden and Danny Show on 106.7 The Fan from about a month ago:
"We're looking at the long term health of the franchise and for Stephen Strasburg," said Rizzo. "We've got a plan, we've got a blueprint of how to do this. This isn't Mike Rizzo's plan, he didn't go to Medical school but Dr. Lew Yocum did and Dr. James Andrews did. We're taking their recommendations and putting them into place."
And one more time, over to you, Dr. Yocum.
"There's no statistic as far as studies," Yocum said ... "It's based on Mike's experience," Yocum said. "Mike is extremely confident. His track record speaks for itself. Zimmermann did extremely well."
Something tells us the anti-shutdown crowd got a little more ammo to go with their white paper that we've posted just below this one.
You'd think that the least everyone involved in this could do is get their stories straight. It's a good thing Rizzo's the general manager of a baseball team and not a head of state, because at this point, there might be the stirrings of a no-confidence vote in the air.
UPDATE: Yocum released the following statement Thursday afternoon. Again, via the Los Angeles Times:
"I would like to correct the misimpression generated from today's L.A. Times article, that I have not been a participant in discussions with the Washington Nationals regarding the recovery strategy for pitcher Stephen Strasburg. In fact, I have been contacted repeatedly and have had numerous discussions with the Nationals GM Mike Rizzo and the team's medical personnel, as recently as mid-August. While the final decision was up to the team, as is standard practice, I was supportive of their decision and am comfortable that my medical advice was responsibly considered."
So which is it? We've given up trying.