Max Scherzer and the Nationals worked out today ahead of tomorrow’s Game Three against the Cubs in Chicago, and by all accounts, it was a successful day for the Nationals ace.
Scherzer suffered a hamstring “tweak” in his final start of the regular season, pushing back his expected playoff debut until tomorrow, Game Three. Even still, no one is quite sure what to expect from him, in terms of execution and durability.
Well, no one except Scherzer himself:
Scherzer expects to be able to go 100 pitches tomorrow. Confident he’s healthy and has strengthened the muscle.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 8, 2017
Scherzer throwing with semi-Max effort from flat ground: pic.twitter.com/guUS671wej
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) October 8, 2017
Max Scherzer wraps up his throwing session, gives a high-five to bullpen catcher Octavio Martinez and is now skipping across the outfield.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) October 8, 2017
Scherzer said he plans to be available out of the bullpen in Game 5.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 8, 2017
We’ll see how Scherzer looks when he takes the mound tomorrow. Certainly, the preparation and the energy will be there. It’s fortunate for the Nationals that Scherzer’s injury was to his landing leg, which will almost certainly impact him less than his push-off leg would have (which is where Jake Arrieta’s injury was). EDIT: So maybe it was Scherzer’s right leg after all. I don’t know why I had it in my head that he was talking about his landing leg, but I totally whiffed on that my apologies.
The Cubs may be wise not to game plan too heavily for a particular Scherzer approach, because they can’t know if his mechanics will be slightly altered, and/or if his command will be slightly off. In other words, the Cubs’ batters may need to be nimble to take advantage of potential wildness both in (fat pitches) and out of (balls) the zone.
UPDATE: Some thoughts from Scherzer on his hamstring:
Scherzer on his readiness tomorrow. Thing is, when a guy starts to fatigue, the risk of re-injury rises rapidly. https://t.co/4AnyDUQcHr pic.twitter.com/ClOonvHBbn
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) October 8, 2017