The Washington Nationals and their fans can rest easy. Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer — who was dealing with a knuckle injury — threw in Grapefruit League action on Wednesday, and had no negative effects.
Scherzer completely pleased with how today went. Threw only with his normal grip, said finger is healed and no longer an issue.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) March 22, 2017
Scherzer went 4.2 innings, surrendered five hits, walked one, allowed two earned runs and struck out four.
But as is so often the case with pitchers in spring training, how he felt is more important than what stats he generated.
Scherzer was encouraged by the outing and that it likely means he’ll start the regular season in the majors and not the DL.
Scherzer admitted he feared at start of camp he'd have to open season on DL. Thrilled that (barring a setback) he's good to go.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) March 22, 2017
Playing in the competitive National League East (and National League, in general), a healthy Scherzer will be vital to the success of the Nats. Scherzer won the Cy Young Award a season ago, posting a 2.96 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and striking out 284 hitters in 228.1 innings.