Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg plans to retire, according to a Thursday afternoon report from Jesse Dougherty and Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post.
The announcement comes amid a rough season for Washington, which is currently last in the NL East at 58–69, four years after winning the World Series. Per the report, a press conference is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 9.
Strasburg, 35, has pitched just 31 1/3 innings in the last three seasons and none in 2023. He was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome in 2021, and suffered a setback in ’23 that resulted in the Nationals shutting him down in June.
Despite his late-career struggles, Strasburg put together one of the most impressive tenures of any Washington player since the franchise moved to the nation’s capital from Montreal in 2005. He was named to three All-Star teams and was the MVP of the Nationals’ seven-game World Series victory over the Astros in 2019.
Drafted No. 1 out of San Diego State in 2009, Strasburg was among the most-hyped baseball prospects of the 21st century. He debuted with 14 strikeouts against the Pirates on June 8, 2010 before undergoing Tommy John surgery later that season.
Returning to form in 2012, Strasburg went 15–6 with a 3.16 ERA and 197 strikeouts before controversially being shut down in September.
He gradually developed into one of baseball’s most consistent starters, winning 10 games every year from 2014 to ’19. In ’19, the last season for which he was healthy, he went 18–6 with a 3.32 ERA to finish fifth in Cy Young voting.
Strasburg then put together a dominant postseason run, going 5–0 as Washington won its first and only World Series in franchise history.
