Strasburg is expected throw his slider less during the 2017 season, as he believes it contributed to his elbow issues in 2016, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports.
Strasburg has frequently been hindered with injuries throughout his career, so it's fair to be skeptical of the idea that throwing a slider was the root cause of his most recent ailments. However, the use of said pitch brought a significant change to his approach in 2016, as it had been virtually nonexistent earlier in his career, but was thrown 17 percent of the time last season. Strasburg doesn't intend to eliminate the pitch entirely in 2017, but will likely rely on his lively fastball, curveball, and changeup significantly more.