Rizzo: "I have talked to Stephen and he is doing great."

[Update: Stephen Strasburg shut out in NL ROY voting, doesn't even get a stinkin' third place vote.]

MLB Rookie of the Year awards will be announced today, and this much we know: once upon a time, Stephen Strasburg was a contender. But one horrific grimace and one Tommy John surgery later, and Buster Posey or Jason Heyward will take home the honors in the NL. But for a little while back there in the summer, Strasburg was right in the mix...oh, what should have been. 

Anyway, if you're into video of Stephen Strasburg looking uncomfortable, look no further than the above 2009 clip from TMZ.com, when Strasburg arrived at Reagan National Airport in September 2009 and was just looking for a cab, but instead got asked about his $15 million and drinking Cristal and going clubbing by some Paparazzo from TMZ. Strasburg politely deflected questions and even asked the guy where the cabstand was located. Here's the opening salvo:

TMZ: "How you doing, Stephen? Stephen, now that you're in D.C., man, and you've got that big $15 million contract, you feel about as big as Zac Efron and Robert Pattinson?"

Strasburg: "I don't even know who those guys are."

Awesome.

Anyway, we're more than a year removed from that awkwardness, and Baseball Jesus is apparently answering calls (or, at least, a call) from Mike Rizzo. Wonder if Strasburg's conversation with Papa Rizzo started the same way as Strasburg's conversation with the Paparazzi? Strasburg won't throw a baseball until January; here's what Mike Rizzo had to say about him, via MASNSports.com's Byron Kerr a few days ago:

...Stephen Strasburg is working out well from San Diego during his rehab from Tommy John surgery. Rizzo caught up with him recently and got a positive update on Strasburg's progress.

"I have talked to Stephen and he is doing great," says Rizzo.

"He is very passionate in his rehabilitation. As passionate as he is when he prepares for a start. He is a man on a mission. He is going to rehab and get back. He is going to show the national league what he can do." (via Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com, 11/10/2010)

There's always comeback player of the year in 2012, you know?

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Comments

[cass]

You set your sights too low. This is Stephen Strasburg we're talking about, not Dmitri Young.

2012 Cy Young Award

(And World Series MVP? :-D)

[Steve M.]

This was great. Where did you dig up that TMZ clip?

I am still laughing..."I already have a girlfriend"....