In a press conference on Friday morning, the Washington Nationals announced their star pitching prodigy Stephen Strasburg will need Tommy John surgery after an MRI revealed a "significant tear" of the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow.
Strasburg left the mound shaking his arm earlier this week. He was the #1 overall draft pick last year, and jumped to the majors to much fanfare this season.
To Cubs fans, this is a sad reminder of what could have been.
In 1998, the same Jim Riggleman that took the ball from an injured Strasburg was the manager on the bench on Chicago's north side when the Cubs young prodigy, Kerry Wood, needed to have his own elbow surgery.
In 2003, with a healthy Wood and another young phenom, Mark Prior, the Cubs had the best starting 1-2 punch in baseball. There was little doubt that these two young studs, with Carlos Zambrano, would take the Cubs to the promised land.
By 2006, Wood was in the bullpen and Prior was a ghost.
As Strasburg goes under the knife, fans of the game should be sad that another over-hyped pitching star is facing serious rehab to even begin a career that, just weeks ago, held so much promise.
Filed under: Chicago Cubs
Tags: @Featured, MLB, stephen Strasburg, Tommy John, Washington Nationals
