What It Means:

The Nationals are going to need to extend their season past the NLDS if they want to have Strasburg's services available to them. He has resumed playing catch following an elongated shutdown period and would make for a strong asset out of the bullpen for Washington.

Strasburg has posted a 3.60 ERA and 3.19 SIERA across 147 2/3 innings on the year, and his 30.6 percent strikeout rate is his best since his 2010 rookie campaign.