Max Scherzer leaves start after one inning with apparent injury

The Washington Nationals may have an injury issue on their hands after Max Scherzer left Wednesday’s start with an apparent injury.

Scherzer threw one inning against the New York Mets before leaving the game. He was seen talking to the team trainer in the dugout after his first inning, and his velocity was clearly down when he was on the mound.

Max Scherzer is coming out of this game after one inning. Erick Fedde will come in. Scherzer was in the Nats’ dugout during the bottom of the first while they were hitting. He never does that. Always goes down into the tunnel. Grabbed his glove a minute ago and went inside.

— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko) August 5, 2020

Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reported that there was some doubt that Scherzer would even make the start, suggesting that the issue did not pop up during his inning.

There was no immediate word from the Nationals what Scherzer’s injury was. He had labored through the first inning, throwing just 14 of his 27 pitches for strikes while giving up a walk, a hit, and a run.

Injuries aren’t really new for Scherzer, who was bothered by significant back issues down the stretch in 2019. The Nationals will be hoping that there’s nothing too significant about this latest setback.