Stephen Strasburg to Return for Nationals a Year After Elbow Surgery

Stephen Strasburg, the No. 1 pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft, will pitch his first game in a year Sept. 6 for the Washington Nationals after recovering from elbow surgery.

Strasburg, 23, has been pitching rehabilitation games for the Nationals’ minor-league teams since Aug. 7. He’ll make his final minor-league start tomorrow for Double-A Harrisburg, where he’s scheduled to throw 75-80 pitches, or six innings.

“If everything is fine, he will stay in the rotation,” manager Davey Johnson said on the Nationals’ website last night.

Strasburg, who signed a record $15 million, four-year contract, had so-called Tommy John surgery to replace a torn ligament on Sept. 4, 2010, two weeks after he injured his pitching arm during a win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Strasburg may pitch a maximum of five innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park in Washington in his return, Johnson said.

Strasburg set a major league record with 41 strikeouts in his first four starts last season and went 5-3 with a 2.92 earned run average and 92 strikeouts in 68 innings.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nancy Kercheval in Washington at nkercheval@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net