"It'd be nice to have some payback."

(Stephen Strasburg is on the comeback trail. Reuters Photo by Jonathan Ernst.)

NatsTown needed a little good news on Tuesday after the events of Monday night and reports floating around Tuesday morning, and Stephen Strasburg delivered with an update on his recovery from Stephen Strasburg Tommy John Surgery.

In a conference call with real live human reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Stephen Strasburg revealed that he is in fact alive, his right arm is attached, he's bored, and he'll be starting rehab soon. And no setbacks so far: he's expected to be back sometime next year (think: September 2011, just in time for the Phillies to clinch the NL East against the Nationals).

"I wish I was out there with everybody. I think the hardest part was being back [in California] and waiting for the surgery to happen. Once it was over with, it was sense of relief. I knew everything was fixed and I'm closer to getting back out there."
(Stephen Strasburg, via Nationals.com, 9/28/2010)

Strasburg's reaction to seeing the Phillies clinch at Nationals Park:

"It didn't look too good. It happens. But you know, we could very well be doing that the next two years on their home turf. It'd be nice to have some payback."
(Stephen Strasburg on the Phillies celebration at Nationals Park, via Nationals Journal, 9/28/2010)

Yes, it would.

Get well soon, Baseball Jesus.

Befriend the Nationals Enquirer on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.