Washington Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg departed Tuesday's game in the third inning with a shoulder ailment and he said the injury has been "lingering" for a while, but he isn't worried about it.
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Strasburg winced in pain after delivering a pitch in the second inning during the team's eventual 2-1 loss to the Miami Marlins, but after a visit from the trainer he stayed in. The righty then got through the third inning before departing the game.
"It's something that's just been lingering, and I just felt it more and more," Strasburg said after the game, according to ESPN. "I felt like it was something that I felt I could have gone through it, but at this point in the season you just want to get it right and not alter your mechanics too much."
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Nationals manager Matt Williams, pitching coach Steve McCatty and the team trainer visited Strasburg on the mound when the issue arose in the second inning. Williams then explained eventually taking him out in the third.
"He's got a little issue under his shoulder blade. Williams told ESPN. "Could be an alignment issue, but as he finishes pitches, it grabs him every once in a while. Tonight it got a little bit worse. So we'll have to have the chiropractor look at him."
Strasburg yielded two runs in the three innings and threw 64 pitches in his shortest outing in two years.
The Nationals are 13-15 thus far this season and 4.5 games behind the New York Mets for first place in the NL East as injuries and poor defense continue to be a running theme through the early part of the campaign.
Strasburg, who has had shoulder injuries in the past, is 2-3 with a 4.73 ERA with 32 strikeouts and 10 walks through 32.1 innings pitched and six starts.
Strasburg is a part of the highly touted Nationals rotation that thus far has combined for a 3.36 ERA this season.
It remains to be seen how serious the latest setback is to the former No. 1 overall draft pick.
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