Stephen Strasburg Is Lighting It Up On Rehab Assignment

Stephen Strasburg is back on the mound in a rehab assignment with the Fredericksburg Nationals and he's putting on a show. We're just happy to see the former ace healthy, to be quite honest.

He went five innings of no-hit ball earlier today with five punch outs. Vintage Stras.

Some view Stephen Strasburg's return as less important due to the big league team sitting 13.5 games back of first place in the NL East. But what people are forgetting is that if the Nationals want any return on their high-priced assets via the trade market, those guys in any deal for prospects have to perform. The Nationals are hoping their $245 million man can show more of this to make some sense of what they're building in Washington going forward. And not many in baseball question the former no. 1 overall pick's talent -- he just has to get his body right and this is a monstrous step in the right direction.

Command of his fastball up in the zone and in the mid-90's proved to compliment his breaking stuff well. Most notably, that changeup ran up to 90 on the gun, which should tell the Nationals, and other organizations potentially watching, that Stephen Strasburg's body is holding up well thus far.

He'll likely need a couple more starts like this where the team will build up his pitch count for a return to the bigs. You have to be rooting for the guy whether you're a fan of the Nationals or not.