Washington Nationals ace and top NL Cy Young candidate Max Scherzer will return to the bump Thursday, manager Dave Martinez announced.
Scherzer has missed the past couple starts with a back strain. He’ll now take to the hill against the Colorado Rockies.
Martinez had thought about holding Scherzer out until Friday against the NL-best Los Angeles Dodgers. However, this move puts him in line to start a hypothetical wild card game.
Scherzer, 34, has pitched to a 9-5 record with a 2.30 ERA and 0.98 WHIP while striking out 181 batters in 129.1 innings this season.
Washington heads into Tuesday’s action with a 52-46 record and 6.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. Getting their ace back will be a boon moving forward.