Stephen Strasburg throws six one-hit innings in rehab start for Red Wings

If his sterling performance Friday night for the Rochester Red Wings was any indication, it won’t be long now before Stephen Strasburg rejoins the Washington Nationals rotation.

Strasburg dazzled a season-high crowd of 10,510 at Frontier Field by taking a no-hitter into his sixth and final inning of work against the Buffalo Bisons before giving up a two-out single to Nathan Lukes.

He then struck out Gabriel Moreno and left the mound to loud applause with a 1-0 lead which came on Donovan Casey’s solo homer to left-center in the fourth.

Strasburg lost the chance for the victory when the Bisons tied the game in the eighth on a pair of singles and a fielders’ choice grounder against Wings reliever Alberto Baldonado.

But the Red Wings won it 2-1 in the ninth when Casey and Cole Freeman singled, Ehire Adrianza walked, and Joey Meneses walked it off with a high-chopper single to third.

Strasburg declined to speak to local reporters, so manager Matt LeCroy was left to break down the performance.

“I thought Strasberg threw the ball well, had a really, really good mix,” LeCroy said. “Both sides of the plate he had the sinker going, had the four-seamer away going, good breaking ball, and the change came alive at the end there. That’s a good sign for our organization that he’s headed in the right direction.”

The 33-year-old Strasburg, who has not pitched for the Nationals since early last season after undergoing neurogenic thoracic outlet surgery, began his rehab stint by pitching twice at Single-A Fredericksburg.

In the second of those appearances, he tossed five hitless innings, meaning he had a streak of 10.2 hitless innings before Lukes’ base hit.

Strasburg breezed through the first two innings as the Bisons went six up and six down on just 23 pitches, and Strasburg touched 92 on one of his fastballs. He sat mostly around 90 or 91 the rest of the way as he is clearly trying to build himself back up while mixing in effective offspeed pitches.

“He’s more concerned about the command right now which is natural for him to feel that way and it was there tonight,” LeCroy said. “He was able to throw breaking balls when he was behind for strikes, located the fastball to both sides so he’s in a good spot right now.”

Strasburg opened the third by walking Chavez Young on a 3-2 pitch, but after Young stole second base, Strasburg left him stranded as he retired the next three men, striking out No. 9 hitter Nick Stamets. That thrilled the crowd because Stamets was the evening’s Taco Man which meant the fans could redeem their ticket stub for a free taco at Taco Bell.

After the third, Strasburg faced only 10 batters in his final three innings.

LeCroy said he has not yet been told what the Nationals plan will be moving forward, but it is possible that Strasburg could make one more start for the Wings, though they head out on a two-week road trip on Monday so it wouldn’t be here.

As for the game, it was Rochester’s second straight over Buffalo and increased the first-place Wings lead over their Thruway in the IL East to 2.5 games.

“Well played, well pitched, and timely hitting,” LeCroy said. “We made some good plays on defense. Just overall a really solid ballgame from us. I’m really proud, this a tough team we’re playing and we got the big hits, and then we pitched really well. Really good night.”

Here’s what else was happening at the ballpark:

Lefty Matt Cronin joins bullpen

Bullpens in the minor leagues can change as often as the weather in Rochester and on some nights, you’re never quite sure who will be jogging onto the field to pitch.

One of the new additions for the Wings is Matt Cronin who was called up from Double-A Harrisburg last week and has pitched in two games, throwing a pair of 1-2-3 innings with two strikeouts.

“Left-handed, which is always good,” LeCroy said. “He pitches around 92 to 93 with a fastball that he can elevate and get swings and misses, and he follows it with a nice little breaking ball. He’s gonna be a nice addition to our club and hopefully he can continue to pitch well and hopefully go up and help our big league team at some point.”

Cronin was a fourth-round pick of the Nationals in 2019 and since making his pro debut in 2021, he has been very good, posting a 1.54 ERA in 70.1 innings with an eye-popping strikeouts per innings rate of 14.7 across 56 appearances.

Life without Luis Garcia is underway

The infielder who the Nationals hope will become one of their next big stars was called up early in the week because frankly, it was time. Garcia was raking in Rochester as he was hitting .314 with a .368 on-base and a .531 slug in 42 games.

He had eight homers, 32 RBI and 93 total bases and was striking out in just 17.6% of his plate appearances, but what he will need to do in order to stick in Washington is continue to improve his fielding. Thursday night in an 8-1 loss to the Reds, Garcia made a throwing error playing short.

“It’s an opportunity not only for Luis to prove that he can play up there but it’s also an opportunity for somebody else to get more playing time at short,” said LeCroy, whose primary options will be Lucius Fox (currently injured) and slick-fielding Ildemaro Vargas.

Vargas played 10 games for the Chicago Cubs this year before being released last week and signing with Washington.

“He was a big piece to why we were good and hopefully somebody will step up and do the job,” LeCroy said of Garcia. “He got some time (with the Nationals) during COVID which kind of got his feet wet a little bit. Last year he went through what was probably a normal struggle for a young kid, but I think he’s more prepared, he’s more ready, he’s more mature. Hopefully he’ll go up and play like he’s capable of playing.”

Top prospect Cole Henry set for debut

You know about 2020 first-round pick Cade Cavalli who has been pitching for the Wings since August of 2021 and is really starting to come on in his last two starts. He’ll be on the mound for Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Bisons.

Sunday afternoon, the Nationals’ second-round pick in 2020, Cole Henry, will make his Triple-A debut. The right-hander made seven starts totaling 23.2 innings at Double-A Harrisburg and was virtually untouchable as he had a 0.76 ERA, a 0.59 WHIP, and opponents were batting .067 against him.

“Solid mix, plus stuff across the board,” LeCroy said of the 6-foot-4, 215-pounder who pitched collegiately at LSU. “He’s a piece of the puzzle so I’m looking forward to seeing him compete at this level. He’s got velocity and he’s got two secondary pitches to go along with it that are plus.

“(The Nationals) think highly of him and we’re looking forward to hopefully him getting off to a good start with us on Sunday.”

Quality family time for Matt LeCroy

There has been a strange sound this week during Wings batting practice, that of the ping of an aluminum bat. No, aluminum bats have not been legalized at the pro level. Rather, it was LeCroy’s 13-year-old son, Noah, taking some licks in the cage.

Noah, who LeCroy and his wife adopted when he was nine years old, is visiting his dad now that school is done where he lives in South Carolina, and it’s quite a treat. Last year, due to COVID restrictions, LeCroy’s family was never able to join him during his first season in Rochester.

“It was tough, man, when the family couldn’t come up and it was probably one of my toughest years of coaching,” said LeCroy, who has five children. “They love coming up in the summertime to spend time at the ballpark just to kind of get away from home, it’s kind of like their vacation. They’ll all come up at some point, but right now they’re kind of coming up in small pieces.”

Noah is a ballplayer, so getting to take BP with Triple-A ballplayers with his dad pitching to him is obviously pretty cool. “He pitches some, he plays the outfield, plays the infield, he’s been able to throw bullpens with the Trackman, so it makes him feel like he’s a part of it,” LeCroy said. “He’s full of energy and life and he loves to be around the guys and pulls for everybody.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. 

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Stephen Strasburg rehab start: Rochester Red Wings vs Buffalo Bisons