Stephen Strasburg is broken. This isn’t a physical setback — it’s not something a chiropractor can fix.

Strasburg is broken on the inside. Unfortunately, the #1 pick from the 2009 draft hasn’t seemed completely comfortable in Washington since he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2011.

Max Scherzer’s arrival has only served to further damage the psyche of the team’s former ace (Strasburg), who is now clinging to the third slot in the rotation. Max Scherzer is everything that Stephen Strasburg was promised to be: dominant, fiery, and composed, all at once. Scherzer has become an immediate leader — No moment is too big for him. Meanwhile, in Strasburg’s fourth full-season in the majors, he always seems so fragile, as though he is one hit, one baserunner, or one bad bounce away from a complete meltdown.

Strasburg’s gut and RG3’s knee ligaments seem to be made up of the same material. Either of these athletes taking the field in a tense situation results is the D.C. sports phenomenon known as, “oh no, oh no, oh no,” or, the expectation that everything is going to crumble at any given second.

Imagine for a second, someone coming into your office/cubicle/parent’s basement and making everything you do look easy. Not only that, they do it while making friends and your co-workers just can’t stop going on about how awesome they are. Your boss gives them your old position, and office, and tells you to make sure that you’re paying attention because “you could really learn something from Max.” Now you don’t even want to bring your girlfriend to the company picnic because she’ll probably like him better, too. This is Stephen Strasburg’s life right now.

Lost in Sunday’s win against the Padres was the continued frustration of Strasburg. With Bryce Harper hitting the baseball like a sober Babe Ruth, and the team winning 12 of 16 games in May, there hasn’t been much room for criticism. Sunday was Strasburg’s best performance in his past five starts, and he was still unable to pitch through more than five innings.

At no point in their brief time as teammates has the contrast between Strasburg and Scherzer been more apparent than a 15-minute window during Sunday’s game. You might have missed it because the action I am referring to took place in the dugout. It began after Danny Espinosa crushed a 5th inning 3-run home run to take the lead, the camera then cut to a crazed Scherzer shouting celebratory expletives firing up his teammates. Keep in mind; this is Scherzer’s “off day,” less than 24 hours removed from a dominant 11-strikeout performance, and here he is, cheering on Strasburg like its game 7 of the World Series.

Fast-forward 15 minutes, the Nats now lead 7-2, Strasburg begins the bottom of the 6th inning by putting the first two batters on base. Matt Williams responds by going to his bullpen, this decision leads to a tantrum of glove-tossing and pouting in the dugout by Strasburg. Perhaps the reaction was a byproduct of his competitive nature — magnified by this game being played in his hometown — regardless, the outburst came across as selfish and irrational. The frustration Strasburg must be going through is unimaginable; however, a lack of composure has been his Achilles heel and he is doing nothing to negate such criticism when he blows a gasket for all to see.

Whenever there is a tense situation, Strasburg seems to crumble as the pressure mounts. No one would dispute the fact that he has the talent to be one of the game’s most dominate pitchers, but he can’t seem to get over the hump, mentally.

The Washington Post reported Monday morning that, “The Nationals have talked with Strasburg at times about his body language. His teammates reminded him to keep his head up on the field, even when things begin to spiral downhill.” It appears that the “handling” of Strasburg didn’t end in his innings-limit post-Tommy John surgery season. He continues to present more questions for this team than answers.

When the Nats signed Max Scherzer, fans immediately began to speculate that this signaled the beginning of the end for Jordan Zimmermann’s time with the club — after failing to sign an extension in the off-season he will become an unrestricted free agent after the 2015 season. After watching Strasburg’s early-season meltdowns, and his fastball velocity declining for the fourth consecutive season, I’m not so sure that Mike Rizzo doesn’t have other plans in mind.

What if this madman, Rizzo, plans on trading Strasburg after this season and using that extra cap space to resign Zimmermann? Would that be so crazy? Did I think I would ever be asking a question like this when I was watching Strasburg strike out 14 Pirates in his MLB debut?

My Nats mantra since 2012 has been “In Rizzo we trust.” Not many folks agreed with shutting down Strasburg that year. If you’re a Nats fan, you’ve probably found yourself in this debate more times than you would like: “What would have happened if we hadn’t shut down Strasburg?” Call me a pessimist, but I posit that nothing would have changed. The Cardinals beat us that year because they had more depth, experience, and a stronger bullpen. 2012 Stephen Strasburg wasn’t 2014 Madison Bumgarner, nor will he ever be — 2015 Max Scherzer on the other hand, now we’re talking.

There is plenty of baseball left to be played this season, and one injury can change everything, but as it currently stands, the Nats are a better team when Zimmermann takes the mound than with Strasburg. Feel free to pore over all the stats you need to convince yourself otherwise — baseball has plenty of them — but please understand, I once desperately loved Strasburg too. I hope he finds his way this season. I hope he proves me wrong; nevertheless, I can’t help but think of his crumbling mental state watching Scherzer flourish every fifth game while he struggles to make it past the 5th inning of most starts.

Don’t go too far off the deep end, Stras — we need you to prop up that trade value.

Follow Patrick on Twitter @RubGun and send your e-mail, questions and topic suggestions to cannon1067@gmail.com.