Max Scherzer Is Headed For The Injured List.

Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Max Scherzer Is Going To Be Making a Trip To The Injured List. The Washington Nationals Star Pitcher Suffered a Mild-Back Strain Back On July 6th. His Time On The Injured List Could Be Short-lived As It Is Retroactive, Which Means He Can Return On July 20th. The Issues With His Back Started Before The All-Star Game And He Pulled Out Of The Mid Summer Classic. Then His Issues With His Back Got Worst During a Bullpen Session On Saturday. Scherzer Was Supposed To Start On Sunday Against The Phillies But Got Pushed Back To Tuesday, The He Knew He Was Not Going To Be Ready, And That's What Led To The Trip To The Injured List. Scherzer Did Have An MRI Done And It Came Back Negative, And That Could Be The Best News The Nationals Can Hear.

The Three Time Cy Young Award Winner Leads The Team In Strikeouts With 181 On The Season. He's 9-5 With 2.30 ERA. And That Does Include The 7-0 Mark In The Last Nine Starts With An ERA Of 0.84, So Where Does That Leave The Nationals, Well The Did Call Up Spencer Kieboom From Triple-A Harrisburg And He's Hitting a Respectable .232 With 2 Home Runs And 13 RBI's This Season In Harrisburg.

But The Bigger Question Is Where Does That Leave The Pitching Rotation...

The Nationals Do Have Steven Strasburg, He Is Second In Strikeouts With 144, And Has a 11-4 Record With a 3.46 ERA, He Will Have To Take The Lead For a Few Starts. The Nationals Also Do Have Patrick Corbin, He's Third On The Strikeout List With 129, He Also Has 7-5 Mark With a 3.34 ERA. And Yes The Bullpen Might Have To Come Into Play And Here's What I Mean, Sean Dolittle He Has Been The Pitcher For The Nationals This Season. Dolittle Has Done A lot Now Keep In Mind Is a Closer. But Don't Let That Role Fool You. He Leads The Team In Saves With 19, He Also Has a 6-2 Record As a Starter When Has to Start Dolittle Has An ERA Of 3.05 This Season.

Now Here's My Take..

The Washington Nationals Find Themselves In The Middle Of a Possible Playoff Run. They Are 6 Games Back Of The Atlanta Braves In The National League East. And They Are Trying To Get At Least a Wildcard Spot If All Possible. The Nationals Really Want To Catch The Braves. But Now With Scherzer Heading For The Injured List The Nationals Are Finding Themselves In a Little Bind. Hopefully Scherzer Gets Back On July 20th Because Let's Face It He's One Of The Reasons Why The Nationals Are Making a Playoff Run. So This Trip To The Injured List Looks To Be Short Lived For Max Scherzer. But The Rest Of The Pitching Staff For The Nationals Is Going To Have To Pick Up The Slack. And Yes That Might Mean Sean Dolittle Is Going To Have To Come Out Of The Bullpen And Make a Start Or Possibly Two If Need Be.

But As Far As The Battle For The National League East Goes. The Nationals Are Going To Have To Get By Without Scherzer And Hopefully Everybody Else Does Their Part, Or The Atlanta Braves Are Going To Start Pulling Away.

Bottom Line..