Washington Nationals Must Stay Mad For Game 1 of the WS
By TC Zencka
Who starts game 1?
The Washington Nationals have a difficult question to answer: will Max Scherzer or Stephen Strasburg start game 1 of the World Series? Many, I’m sure, will clamor for Strasburg to get the nod considering his dominance this postseason, but according to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post, Max Scherzer is still the man in the nation’s capital.
Going with Mad Max makes sense: he’s one of only a few surefire Hall-of-Famers pitching in the majors today. He had a stretch this season in which he was dominant as a pitcher can be, going 6-0 with a 1.00 ERA across six starts in June. His 2.45 FIP led the majors among qualified pitchers, as did his 12.7 K/9 and 7.36 K/BB. This season. Not in some far and distant prime.
If it weren’t for the injury that sidelined him for a few weeks in August, Scherzer likely would be readying his mantle for a 4th Cy Young Award. Even limited to 27 starts, he’s going to land a top-5 finish for the 7th consecutive season. He’s on the shortlist for best pitcher in the game. The very short list. As excellent as Strasburg has been all season long, he’s not on that list.
Working against Max is the fact that Stras is very much one of the pitchers that any team would be happy to throw in game 1 of a playoff series. He is among an elite tier of pitchers that could qualify as a true ace. He just happens to play on the same team as Max Scherzer. The only teams with a top-2 in their rotation at all comparable to the Nats 1-2 punch are the Dodgers, whom they already vanquished, and the Astros, who may yet emerge as their World Series challenger.
Max struggled some in September, and he gutted out 5 tough innings in the Wild Card game before Strasburg came in to save the day. But since then, Scherzer has rounded back into mid-season form.
After striking out the side in a dominant relief appearance, Max went 14 innings in his last two starts with just 1 earned run, 5 hits, and 5 walks allowed versus 18 strikeouts. Max is back, and I have zero qualms with giving him the ball in game 1 of the franchise’s first World Series.
Max for games 1 and 5, Stras for games 2 and 6. It could be as simple as that to give the Nats their first World Series title. Given the level of competition forthcoming, it’s likely to be a little more complicated than that.