Stephen Strasburg would have helped.

The Washington Nationals blew a game late against the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS. That game, of course, was game 5, the clinching game, the one that sent Washington home for the offseason, with the Cardinals heading to the NLCS, starting tonight in San Francisco.

One of the trends I saw in the commentary after the game was the opinion that Stephen Strasburg wouldn’t have helped, because this was a breakdown in the bullpen. While true that Drew Storen didn’t do very well in game 5, it’s a tough leap to make, saying that adding an elite pitcher to the roster wouldn’t have helped the Nationals this postseason.

Lets first make the assumption that Edwin Jackson would be dropped from the rotation as the pitcher with the highest regular season ERA. The 8-0 whitewashing the Cardinals experienced is no more. More importantly, a fresher Edwin Jackson is available in the bullpen in game 5, and perhaps can go more innings. If not then, maybe he can work long relief in game 2, and the other pitchers in the Nationals bullpen don’t need to work as long, and could have been saved for a stronger outing in Game 5. Maybe if he needs to work long relief, Jackson doesn’t even appear in Game 5.

What if it doesn’t even come to Game 5? What if the match ups work better. The Nationals scored 4 in game 2. What if Gio Gonzalez and his 2 runs allowed in Game 1 are there, instead of the 12 allowed by Zimmerman and company. This takes a lot of assumptions, naturally, but the point is, assuming that Strasburg wouldn’t have helped is a much bigger, more ludicrous assumption.