Stephen Strasburg won’t pitch in the playoffs

It was reported on Friday that Stephen Strasburg’s new innings limit for the season is 180. Bill Ladson of MLB.com has a source telling him that that is not accurate, and that there is not necessarily a magic number of innings. Rather:

The Nationals are expected to have right-hander Stephen Strasburg miss two or three regular-season starts, according to a baseball source.

Well enough. But here’s the jaw-dropper:

The same source went so far as to say Strasburg will not pitch in the postseason once he is shut down.

I’m all for taking care of your young pitching talent, but I’m sorry, I find that to be utterly mind-boggling.

One can say anything one wants about caution with respect to Strasburg’s health -- and I hate to echo Jeff Francoeur’s wisdom when it comes to anything -- but how do Mike Rizzo and the Nationals expect their fans to take it if, in Game 5 of the NLDS, the TBS cameras repeatedly show closeups of Strasburg sitting idly by in the dugout while Edwin Jackson gets lit up by the Cardinals or someone?

I guess they say they’re protecting their most valuable asset for a long and triumphant tomorrow. If so, they had better hope it actually comes. Because there’s certainly no guarantee of that.