After tearing a ligament in his throwing arm early last season, Nats pitching phenom Steven Strasburg is almost ready to throw off the mound again.

Strasburg underwent Tommy John surgery eight months ago and is nearly done with the “long-toss” program, the initial stage in his extensive recovery.  He still has anywhere between three to ten months left in his recovery depending on how he feels, but for the moment everything looks good.  Nats pitcher Jordan Zimmerman also received Tommy John surgery and returned last season to have a great year, so hopefully Strasburg will have a similar result.

Bryce Harper, another Nationals hopeful, couldn’t be looking any better in the minors.  Harper was batting .231 initially, but after being fitted with a pair of contact lenses his batting dramatically improved.  In the next two games he had two singles, two doubles and a homer, bringing in a total of six runs.  And, just in case you forgot, he’s only 18 years old.

Harper is currently on a 16 game hitting streak and we wonder when he’s going to be called up to the big leagues.  He’s proving himself and playing like a superstar in the making.

Whenever the Nats decide to bring him up, he’ll make a dramatic change to Washington, and when Strasburg comes back fully recovered, the league should watch out for the Nationals.