It is looking increasingly likely that Washington Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer will not make an appearance until late in the NLDS series.
Scherzer threw off flat ground on Wednesday, but did not throw a bullpen off a mound — an indication that he is not particularly close to being ready to pitch in a game.
Does not appear Scherzer is heading for the bullpen. He played high-intensity catch on flat ground, but has stopped. Game 3 feels likely.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 4, 2017
The Nationals are fortunate in that they have the pitching depth to sustain such a loss, though they’d certainly rather have Scherzer pitch twice in a best-of-five if it came down to it. They saw this coming, though, and Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez in the first two games are not bad alternatives.
