Last Friday was suppose to be the turning of a new leaf for Washington Nationals' starter Stephen Strasburg, but it was not. Strasburg, who entered the game with an earned run average of 6.50 and a record of 3-6, was probable to face a struggling Cincinnati Reds club that collected only one win in their last eleven games and possessed no hitters with a batting average of .300 or better. Due to this, many people in Nationals' Nation thought this was going to be the game to spur Strasburg to pitch like he did last season when he went 14-11 with an earned run average of 3.14. Sadly for them, injury prevented the chance to see Strasburg pitch past the second inning and rebound from a Joey Votto first inning solo homerun as neck tightness caused the 2014 National League strikeout leader to exit the game after a walk to Reds' catcher Bryan Pena.
Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams recognized that Strasburg did have back issues and the Nationals have gone so far to say bad mechanics by the former San Diego State product has caused them. On May 5 after three innings, Strasburg also exited a start against the Miami Marlins due to tightness in his back. As of now, there is no known correlation between the two injuries of back tightness and neck tightness. Washington recalled right-handed pitcher Taylor Hill, who went 3-2 in nine starts with an earned run average of 4.35 at Triple-A Syracuse, to take Strasburg's spot on the active roster.