Lost in all the coverage of Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper running into a wall (still a bad route from an inexperience outfielder everybody!) and getting his beard knocked off to remind you that Stephen Strasburg makes his hometown San Diego MLB debut. The Union-Tribune has a story about how he evolved from a lazy, fat kid into a disciplined gym rat: He wasn’t always THIS Stephen Strasburg.

2013 is supposed to be the first full season of Strasburg in the majors after his rookie year, Tommy John surgery and last year’s much discussed shutdown. It hasn’t gone well for him at all – he’s 1-5, despite a respectable 3.10 and averaging over a strike out an inning. He’s had trouble getting out of the first inning cleanly and has collapsed under the weight of defensive errors behind him, last Saturday evening’s 5th inning as the prime example. Eight of his 25 runs allowed have been unearned. Strasburg has looked dominate at times (like the first four innings on Saturday) but the root problem is that he’s regressed emotionally. It seemed last year whenever some misfortune would come the Nats way, he’d get extremely focused and strike hitters out in bunches. He hasn’t been able to flip the switch this year.

Tonight’s game against the Padres presents an interesting challenge for Strasburg. It will be his first start in his hometown since entering the majors. Given his tendency to have rough first innings, how he handles all of this will be quite interesting and I’m surprised there is not much attention out of DC media. Maybe it is just because they are on West Coast time, but perhaps it works out for the best for Strarsburg. While Harper enjoys being the center of attention, Strasburg resents it, perhaps so much that the shutdown and being a #1 pick has hurt his game.

I don’t know if it will be tonight or later in the season, but I think Strasburg figures it out and returns to dominance. It is better for him and the Nats that he get this out of his way in the first half of the season and gets ready for the stretch run. Even with all the misfortune the Nats are dealing with — injuries, some bad series and bad luck, the Nats are still a mere game out of first place. The schedule eases up soon too, so without the emotion tied to all of this, the Nats are doing fine. It may not always feel like it though.

By the way, the Nats lost last night, the second in a row, costing them the series with Los Angeles Dodgers: Zack Greinke latest Dodgers pitcher to quiet Nationals bats in 3-1 loss at Los Angeles (The Post). Wilson Ramos is hurt again too. Remember when the Nats had a surplus of catchers? Ross Dewiler may miss a start or two as well. Remember when the Nats had a surplus of pitchers?