Stephen Strasburg shutdown begins as Nationals pitcher sits and watches

Wednesday, the TVs were off when he got to the ballpark to begin another day of . . . what, exactly? His No. 37 jersey hung in his locker above one pair of sneakers, one pair of spikes and one pair of flip-flops. Videos danced across his computer screen. His blazer remained on his back, his headphones on his head. He spoke only when spoken to — when fellow pitcher Jordan Zimmermann rolled his chair over for a few words and then wheeled back, when outfielder Michael Morse ambled over for a joke.

Fifteen minutes after Strasburg arrived, Lannan bopped in, sunglasses on his head, smiling, and walked to the back left corner of the clubhouse, opposite Strasburg. As Lannan dressed for his third major league start of the season, he and Strasburg chatted briefly. Johnson said he will avoid the game so many others will embrace: Look at Lannan’s production — which began with 5² / ₃ innings of scoreless ball in a 2-0 win Wednesday — and wonder what Strasburg would have done in his stead.

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“I don’t go there,” Johnson said.

By 4:35 p.m., Strasburg’s computer was away, a red Nationals cap sat on his head, his sneakers were on his feet. Not 20 minutes later, he walked onto the field, holding his black glove. He headed to the left field corner, and when the other pitchers — those whose seasons are still alive — began to jog, Strasburg joined them.

“He is now under a rehab program as we speak today, diligently going after it, preparing for 2013, which he couldn’t do if he was pitching,” Scott Boras, Strasburg’s agent, said this week. “So he gets an extra two months of strength and conditioning on his body and flexibility on his elbow to prepare him to pitch more innings without fatigue next year.”

This is the year, though, that the Nationals have the best record in baseball — a record Strasburg contributed to by winning 15 games, a record he can neither help nor hinder from here.

“People act like it’s automatic, like we’re completely giving up our shot to have a deep run in the playoffs because we’re shutting down Stephen,” Zimmerman said.

It is not, Zimmerman said, the way the Nationals think. But on Wednesday night, the portion of the Nationals’ season that had been, heretofore, only talked about began in full. The central character watched another pitcher take his turn on the mound, then lined up to congratulate his teammates afterward, only tangentially a part of it all.

Adam Kilgore and Rick Maese contributed to this report.

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