Baker forbids Strasburg to pitch through injury: 'Not hero time yet'

Washington Nationals bench boss Dusty Baker wasn't about to let his star pitcher try to put the team before himself.

On Monday, the club placed Stephen Strasburg on the 15-day disabled list with a sore elbow, but if it were up to the starter, he would have opted to play through the pain and make his scheduled start later in the evening against the Baltimore Orioles.

"It's not hero time yet," Baker told reporters, according to MASN's Dan Kolko.

Strasburg has been lights out this season, posting a 3.59 ERA while racking up an NL-best 15 wins in 23 starts. Despite his impressive performance, general manager Mike Rizzo agrees that the current schedule doesn't require their ace to put himself in harm's risk.

"I think if we were later in the season and we had to have him pitch, he could pitch for us, and he would pitch for us," Rizzo said, according to Mark Zuckerman of MASN.

Strasburg, meanwhile, though frustrated, understands the club's decision to shut him down temporarily.

"(The Nationals) thought it was (in our) best interest to let (the elbow) recover now, instead of trying to gut it out and not be available later on," he told MLB.com's Bill Ladson. "It's frustrating, but it's part of the game. You go through these little blips and stuff. With what I've been working on here, it going to helped me in the long run.

"Being a Tommy John guy and being able to get through the grind of the season, there is just a little more maintenance to go with it. I'm still learning those things."