Photo by Cordileran.

The Nationals delivered some crushing news this morning via a conference call: phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg will “probably” need Tommy John surgery on his injured pitching arm, which could put him on the shelf for up to a year, and perhaps as long as 18 months. An MRI which doctors performed on the arm yesterday discovered a “significant” tear of Strasburg’s right ulnar collateral ligament.

Strasburg was apparently informed of the severity of the injury yesterday, but he “didn’t want to rain on Bryce Harper’s parade.” The team will seek a second opinion on the injury, but it sure doesn’t look good: the early projections are that Washington won’t be watching another Strasburg performance until late next season.

Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann, who coincidentally made his first start for the team in more than a year last night after his pitching arm underwent the same procedure, took a little more than a year to get back to the major leagues. Here’s hoping that Strasburg’s youth and enthusiasm can help him recover along a similar timeline.