Mad Max likely to get start for play-in
• Dave Martinez didn’t fully commit to starting Max Scherzer in the National League wild- card game. The Washington Nationals manager knows better than that. The Nationals still haven’t clinched a spot in that contest, not officially, and a lot could change over the next week.
What if the Nationals somehow need him to pitch this Sunday, in the final game of the regular season, to make it into the postseason?
But on Tuesday, Martinez got as close as possible to declaring Scherzer his guy for what’s often described as a coin-flip game.
The Nationals are almost certainly going to face the Milwaukee Brewers on Oct. 1 — either at home or at Miller Park — and they will almost certainly be led by their 35-year-old ace.
“If you look at the schedule right now, that’s Max’s day,” Martinez said. “And he’s one of the best.”
Scherzer would be in line to pitch against the Cleveland Indians on Sunday. Stephen Strasburg, throwing Thursday, would be on regular four days rest for the wild- card game. But if the Nationals clinch before the weekend they could skip Scherzer and line him up for the Brewers.
Heading into this season, or any season in the last half decade, there would be no question of whether to pitch Scherzer in a wild-card game.
He is a three- time Cy Young Award winner. He is arguably the greatest pitcher of his generation. But a string of summer injuries sapped him of his usual dominance. He dealt with bursitis beneath his right shoulder blade and, after returning for one day in late July, a mild rhomboid strain that kept him out another month.
Strasburg, meanwhile, leads the National League with 17 wins and 203 innings pitched. He has a 3.37 ERA and hasn’t been this durable since 2014. A common argument for starting Strasburg in that game, and bumping Scherzer to the bullpen, is Strasburg’s gem against the Chicago Cubs in the 2017 postseason.
But Martinez is keeping his calculations simple: Scherzer, when healthy, is the ace of a loaded rotation. That isn’t expected to change.
“They’re all going to be available come Game 163, and they know that,” Martinez said, referring to the wildcard game. The manager was also looping Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez into that strategy. Using Corbin in relief in on Oct. 1, on two days of rest, would give him another lefty out of the bullpen. Strasburg could come in after Scherzer if the ace goes just five or six innings. Sánchez, the least likely of the four to appear that night, could be a contingency plan.
The point, really, is for Martinez to avoid his middle relievers at all costs. Most of the bullpen has not proven reliable enough for such a critical game.