Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg refuses to blame a benign growth he had removed from his back for problems he had last season.

Strasburg said Saturday at his team's fan festival that he had a fibrolipoma removed, adding, "it was above the muscle, so they didn't cut into muscle or anything."

Nationals reliever Aaron Barrett blames being overworked for his right elbow problems that led to Tommy John surgery.

Barrett said Saturday at Washington's fan festival that "the bottom line was I was literally just throwing too much."