Washington Nationals Star Had One of Most Memorable Postseason Runs in Recent History
It has been a while since we saw the Washington Nationals playing baseball in October.
They took home the World Series in 2019, but haven’t advanced to the postseason in five tries since. That drought could be coming to an end sooner rather than later, as a talented young core began to emerge in 2024.
Will this crop of players be the ones to bring the Nationals back to prominence?
Ownership certainly hopes so, as the front office is going to have some money to spend this offseason. With several veterans coming off the books, they will be able to augment the group around their emerging players.
One of the areas of the team which could be upgraded this offseason is the pitching staff. Washington has veterans Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams both hitting free agency, leaving the team short on experience in the rotation.
Corbin was the last remaining member of the roster from that World Series team. Manager Dave Martinez would be the last person standing from that group.
He alone would have to carry on the stories of what Stephen Strasburg did that year. In what was essentially his swan song as a professional pitcher, he gave the franchise everything he had.
En route to the World Series victory and taking home the MVP award, the former No. 1 pick made six appearances, starting five times and tossing 36.1 innings. He was truly dominant, allowing 30 hits and issuing only four walks with 47 strikeouts, recording a 1.98 ERA.
As shared by Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report, the star pitcher saved his best for last in what was one of the most dominant postseasons by a pitcher ever.
“The Nationals won all six of the games he appeared in, for which he personally became the first pitcher to ever go 5-0 in a single postseason. Further, only Curt Schilling has had a postseason with more strikeouts than Strasburg had in 2019.
It all led to arguably the signature performance of Strasburg's career. With the Nationals facing elimination in Game 6, he became the first pitcher since Orel Hershiser in 1994 to pitch eight innings and get a W in a World Series elimination game,” the MLB expert wrote.
After that performance, he agreed to a seven-year, $245 million contract with the team. He would make eight more starts in his career across three years before injuries officially led to him retiring.
While that ending certainly isn’t how anyone would have hoped for it to go, Strasburg will always be remembered for helping carry the team to a title, literally leaving it all out on the field.
