Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer’s status is TBD for his scheduled start today after breaking his nose during bunting practice before Tuesday’s rainout.
I arrived at Nats Park a few hours before the scheduled first pitch for the Washington Nationals game against the Philadelphia Phillies yesterday, and I happened to look down at batting practice just a moment before Max Scherzer deflected a bunt attempt that hit him in the face and broke his nose.
If I’m being honest, I wasn’t paying super close attention. In my defense, it was hours before the game! I wasn’t locked-in.
But clearly, neither was he.
Max is as fierce a competitor as they come, known for putting time into all aspects of his game, including baserunning and hitting, where very little is expected of pitchers.
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But a day before his scheduled start against the Phillies, a day after an extended rain delay turned into a rainout, the intensity level was understandably low.
What should have been an innocuous bunting drill turned into a potential disaster for a Washington Nationals team that already has a slim margin for error. MLB.com’s Jamal Collier posted a video of the incident, and the scene speaks for itself.
What happens next is of much greater consequence – but there’s not much to go on. The results of a CT scan came back negative, but no announcement has been made as to who will start today’s day-night doubleheader or how the injury will affect Scherzer moving forward.
It would be surprising – and frankly a little disconcerting – if the Nats push Scherzer to pitch in either of today’s games given that Patrick Corbin and Stephen Strasburg are both available on full rest. After back-to-back rainouts, a four-game home set against the Phillies has turned into a single day of baseball, but the three subsequent games against the Braves are just as important, if not more so.
If Scherzer wants to pitch, however, he’s likely going to pitch. Manager Dave Martinez doesn’t have a great track record of telling Max what to do.
On the plus side, it’s not the type of injury he’s likely to re-aggravate. So long as he gets the green light to swing away.
UPDATE: Of course, Max plans on pitching tonight.