As Stephen Strasburg recovered from an upper back strain, Dusty Baker was in no hurry to rush the right-handed pitcher back to the starting rotation.
“I’m not pessimistic about it, but at this point we still got halfway to go,” Baker said last Thursday when asked if Strasburg would return during the weekend.
Then on Saturday Baker revealed that Strasburg, who hadn’t pitched in a game since June 15, was scheduled to return on Sunday. Still, the Nationals waited until after Strasburg fully completed his warmup routine to activate him — and in doing so placed starter Joe Ross on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation.