Scherzer expected to get nod in Game 1
Max Scherzer is expected to throw the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first pitch in the NL Championship Series only two days after delivering the final pitch in their NL Division Series-clinching win.
Unusual? Yes. And yet no one is surprised.
“That is Scherzer being Scherzer,” teammate Cody Bellinger said.
Scherzer is expected to face Braves left-hander Max Fried in Game 1 tonight in Atlanta in an NLCS rematch. The Dodgers beat the Braves in seven games in last year’s NLCS before winning the World Series.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he plans to start Scherzer even after the NL Cy Young Award contender earned his first career save in a 2-1 win over the Giants on Thursday night in Game 5 of the NLDS.
Following the game, Roberts said he understood “there might be a cost” in using Scherzer in the closing role as the Dodgers faced the quick turnaround before opening the NLCS.
Whatever that cost, the plan is for Scherzer to start the opener.
“That won’t surprise me,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said Friday before Atlanta’s workout at Truist Park.
Snitker said Scherzer’s 13-pitch ninth inning was like an off-day session in the bullpen.
“That’s kind of like a side for him right there,” Snitker said. “The guy is just a different animal. I mean, he’s a Hall of Famer and those guys, man they’re cut from a different cloth than normal guys so it won’t surprise me at all if he shows up and is on the mound.”
Scherzer recorded two strikeouts, including a controversial check swing by Wilmer Flores to end the game.
Scherzer was 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA for Washington and Los Angeles this season, including 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA in 11 starts for the Dodgers. He has pitched 12 1/3 innings over three appearances in the playoffs, allowing two runs and six hits with 16 strikeouts.
Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said he was wondering who would pitch the ninth inning for Los Angeles on Thursday night as he watched the game on TV.
“And then they showed Max running up and I said, ‘That’s the guy,’” Freeman said. “I don’t think anybody else would want anybody else other than Max in that game. He’s a bulldog, facing him for years.”
Fried moves up as Atlanta’s Game 1 starter after Charlie Morton pitched on short rest in the Braves’ 5-4 clinching win over Milwaukee in the NL Division Series on Tuesday night.
Fried joins Morton and Ian Anderson to give Snitker a reliable three-man rotation.
When the Braves lost to the Dodgers in last year’s NLCS, Fried was joined by three rookies — Anderson, Kyle Wright and Bryse Wilson — in the rotation.
Led by Morton, Fried and Anderson, the Braves recorded two shutouts in the division series against Milwaukee. Atlanta limited the Brewers to six runs in four games.
“I feel really good about all three of the guys we’re going to be featuring,” Snitker said. “I’d say it’s a significant difference than a year ago when we started this tournament.”
The Braves are preparing to be without outfielder Jorge Soler as they await his clearance following his positive COVID-19 test. MCCULLERS JR. OUT FOR ASTROS >> Astros ace Lance McCullers Jr. was left off Houston’s roster for the AL Championship Series against Boston because of a strained muscle in his arm.
McCullers was great in a Game 1 win against the Chicago White Sox in the Division Series, pitching scoreless ball into the seventh. But the right-hander left Game 4 after four innings because of what the team called forearm tightness. CUBS HIRE NEW GM >> The Chicago Cubs hired Carter Hawkins as general manager, dipping into Cleveland’s front office in an effort to bolster their own player development system.
Hawkins, 37, spent 14 seasons with Cleveland, including the last five as an assistant general manager. He also supervised the team’s player development department.
While Chicago has struggled when it comes to turning its pitching prospects into successful major leaguers, Cleveland has flourished.
It selected Shane Bieber in the fourth round of the 2016 amateur draft, and the right-hander won the AL Cy Young Award last year. Aaron Civale, a thirdrounder in 2016, went 12-5 with a 3.84 ERA in 21 starts this season. Zach Plesac and Triston McKenzie also have had some positive moments.
The GM role had been empty since Theo Epstein departed last year.
Hoyer and Hawkins are looking to rebuild Chicago after it went 71-91 this season for the club’s worst record since it went 66-96 in 2013. It had a string of six consecutive winning seasons before faltering this year.