Max Scherzer

NL East Notes: Prado, Harvey, Scherzer, Strasburg

By Jeff Todd | March 16, 2017 at 9:56am CDT

Marlins third baseman Martin Prado left last night’s WBC action clutching his hamstring, leading to fears that he may have suffered a reasonably significant injury. Early indications are that it’s minor, tweets MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, though a full diagnosis will not be available until Prado is evaluated by the organization’s medical staff. He’s heading back to the club’s spring facilities for just that purpose.

Here’s more from the NL East:

Mets starter Matt Harvey isn’t showing his typical velocity levels this spring, as James Wagner of the New York Times writes, but that the import of that fact remains open to interpretation. The star righty, who’s working back from thoracic outlet surgery, was somewhat philosophical. “It is what it is,” he said. “It’s going to be there or it’s not. I have to go out there and pitch … .” Skipper Terry Collins, meanwhile, said that he’s focused more on whether Harvey is commanding his pitches than how fast they’re coming in. And as John Harper of the New York Daily News notes, pitching coach Dan Warthen suggests that it’ll likely just take more time for the velo to return. As things stand, Harvey is sitting in the 92 to 93 mph range with his fastball, which is around two ticks slower than he worked last year.
The health and effectiveness of Nationals staff aces Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg will go a long way toward determining the team’s 2017 outlook. The former is building up today with a three-inning outing, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports (links to Twitter). He’ll be working on reintroducing his typical fastball grip to the mix after utilizing a three-finger approach for the bulk of the spring to protect the fractured finger that has held him back. Though manager Dusty Baker acknowledged it’s unlikely Scherzer will be able to take the ball on Opening Day, it also seems reasonable to hope he won’t need to open the year on the DL. As for Strasburg, the club thinks that it has identified and corrected a pitch-tipping issue with the help of pitching coach Mike Maddux, as Janes also writes.

Injury Notes: Seager, Price, Red Sox, Scherzer, Mariners

By Steve Adams | March 13, 2017 at 1:04pm CDT

Dodgers star Corey Seager won’t appear in a game for the team at all this week, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (Twitter links via Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times). Roberts said over the weekend that Seager, who finished third in last season’s MVP voting thanks to a .308/.365/.512 batting line and strong glovework at short, is dealing with an “oblique-ish” injury. While there’s still time for Seager to ramp back up for the season, oblique issues have a tendency to linger. Seager hasn’t played since March 3 and now seemingly won’t get into action until the final third of the month. McCullough adds that lefty Scott Kazmir also isn’t likely to pitch in a game this week as he continues to tweak his delivery after leaving his most recent Cactus League outing due to tightness and limited mobility in his hip.

A few more injury issues worth keeping an eye on around the league…

David Price told Red Sox reporters that he’s not 100 percent certain exactly what the injury he’s facing is, but in fairly strange fashion, noted that he’d have opted for surgery if he were 22 or 23 years old (via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald). “They said if I was 22 or 23, they’d have told me to go have surgery,” said Price. “…I’ve gone through this. This is something I feel like happens every spring training. It’s those first four to five weeks of spring training that I feel like I go through this every single year, and this year was just a little bit worse.” Pressed on the specifics of the injury Price stated that he’s not sure what precisely set off the alarm bells for doctors but added that his elbow feels good and offered no concern regarding his ulnar collateral ligament. There’s no timeline for his recovery, though Drellich notes that it’s looking likely that Price will be on the DL to open the season.
Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal provides updates on a pair of mending Red Sox relievers (Twitter links). Setup man Tyler Thornburg, acquired in the trade that sent Travis Shaw to Milwaukee this winter, is slated to throw off a mound on Wednesday. Thornburg hasn’t appeared in a game since March 1 but appears to be nearing a return to action. As for last season’s setup acquisition, Carson Smith (who underwent Tommy John surgery before pitching in the regular season), he threw a 15-to-18 pitch bullpen session today, which marks his first mound work since undergoing his Tommy John procedure.
Nationals ace Max Scherzer voiced with confidence on Monday that he’ll be ready for Opening Day, per Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Scherzer, the reigning NL Cy Young winner, has been slowed by a stress fracture in his right ring finger but said plainly on Monday, “I’m gonna do it,” when asked about being ready for the start of the season. Manager Dusty Baker offered a similar take, stating that Scherzer is “a little bit behind but not as far behind as it looked like he was going to be at the beginning” of camp.
Mariners setup man Steve Cishek is all but certain to begin the season on the disabled list, per Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. The 30-year-old side-armer had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip last October and is still at least one week, if not two weeks, away from throwing off the mound, according to manager Scott Servais. “I think coming into this camp, it was no secret that we were projecting that he might start the season a little bit late,” said Servais.“We’re still on that schedule.”
Within that same piece, Dutton notes that the Mariners got better news on right-hander Tony Zych, who is already throwing off a mound and will face hitters in live BP this week. And in a second column, Dutton adds that the Mariners got positive news following an MRI on right-hander Shae Simmons. There’s no ligament damage in Simmons’ elbow, as the hard-thrower is instead dealing with a strained muscle in his forearm. He’ll be out for the next couple of days, but it seems that the former Brave has staved off any form of serious injury.

NL East Notes: Scherzer, Lugo, Braves, Marlins

By Steve Adams | March 11, 2017 at 1:57pm CDT

Ken Rosenthal looks at the durability of Nationals ace Max Scherzer, who has had just one arm-related DL stint in his career (shoulder soreness in 2009) and leads all Major League pitchers in innings pitched across the past three seasons. Rosenthal spoke to Scherzer himself, former D-backs GM Josh Byrnes, former Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski (now in Boston) and Nationals GM Mike Rizzo (Arizona’s scouting director when the D-backs drafted Scherzer) about the two-time Cy Young winner. Byrnes said Scherzer deserves credit for being “very developmentally minded” as a prospect. “He wanted to find out what he needed to do to be the best version of himself, not take what was the quickest path to the big leagues,” said Byrnes. Rizzo noted that many perceived it as an overdraft when the Diamondbacks plucked him out of Missouri at No. 11 overall in 2006 and lauded Scherzer’s arm action, pitching IQ and demeanor on the mound. Scherzer offered some interesting insight on the toll that increasing workloads can take on a developing arm as well, making for a very interesting read.

Elsewhere in the NL East…

The Mets are “strongly” considering right-hander Seth Lugo for a relief role if he doesn’t claim the final spot in the rotation, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. While there’s been some thought that either Lugo or Robert Gsellman could head back to Triple-A to continue to work as a starter, but Puma notes that the bullpen is New York’s most pressing concern at the moment. The 27-year-old Lugo made his MLB debut last season and showed quite well, tossing 64 innings with a 2.67 ERA, 6.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 42.8 percent ground-ball rate in 17 appearances — nine of which came out of the ’pen.
Left-hander Eric O’Flaherty has rediscovered some of the sink on his fastball in Spring Training and, with righties Chaz Roe and Blaine Boyer struggling, has emerged as a legitimate option to break camp with the Braves, writes MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. “He’s throwing some good breaking balls and his fastball has a little more life than it did,” manager Brian Snitker tells Bowman. “We just need to stay with him. I think he feels good, so that’s just a good thing to just keep him out there. I think he’s feeling healthy for the first time in a while.”
Looking to the bench competition that is ongoing in Atlanta, Bowman tweets that the only two locks for bench spots at this moment are backup catcher Kurt Suzuki and utilityman Jace Peterson. The Braves are said to be eyeing a right-handed-hitting fourth outfielder that can handle center and have several other candidates in camp vying for bench roles (as can be seen on their depth chart at Roster Resource).
Though the Marlins have a notoriously weak farm system, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald spoke to a number of rival scouts and evaluators about which Miami farmhands could potentially make a Major League impact in 2017. The three most common responses for Spencer were right-hander Dillon Peters, infielder J.T. Riddle and right-hander Drew Steckenrider. Though small in stature, Peters has racked up impressive performances in the minors over the past two seasons and reached Double-A as a 23-year-old last year. Riddle, a glove-first infielder, could help the team’s bench/defense despite a light bat. And Steckenrider scrapped starting after Tommy John surgery and returned with a 100 mph heater out of the ’pen. Of course, as Spencer notes, with the Marlins’ deep bullpen, it could take awhile for him to be a big league factor.

NL East Notes: Halladay, Phils, Harvey, Scherzer, Lee

By Jeff Todd and Steve Adams | March 7, 2017 at 4:24pm CDT

Roy Halladay is in camp with the Phillies as a special guest instructor this week and tells Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice.com that he’s enjoying his time working with the team’s younger pitchers. Halladay, who also coaches his son’s 12-U team and his other son’s varsity high school team, seems to enjoy passing his knowledge on to younger arms but tells Lawrence that he’s not yet sure if this current position will lead to a more permanent role with the Phillies organization. “I think that’s something we’re still talking about,” the former Cy Young winner tells Lawrence. “There are all kinds of options. … I’m going to enjoy this first week here, being a guest coach, and see where things go. We’ll continue talking, but, you know, I think it’s always trying to find a good fit, too.” Young Philadelphia righty Jake Thompson lauded Halladay’s baseball acumen and explained to Lawrence that he and the team’s other young arms relish the opportunity to learn from one of the best arms of the past generation.

Here’s more from the NL East…

The Phillies may have hoped that Thompson (wrist) and fellow righty Zach Eflin (knee) were a bit further along in their injury rehab timelines by this point, but at least the club is seeing progress, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. Both are throwing live BP sessions, with the possibility of reaching game readiness by next week. Eflin says he’s feeling stronger than ever as he continues working back from surgery to both knees, while Thompson says he’s healthy but is “still knocking off a little rust.” It remains to be seen whether either will be ready to open the season on time, but surely both are destined for Triple-A regardless.
Matt Harvey’s spring debut for the Mets didn’t go as hoped, as Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News writes. There’s little reason to get too caught up in the uninspiring results, of course, particularly since Harvey says he was dealing with a stiff neck. (That could be its own source of concern, though it sounds as if it’s just a low-level problem and Harvey expects to make his next start.) The bigger concern, perhaps, is that Harvey was limited to working in the low-90s with his fastball. That, too, can be chalked up to the neck along with the fact that Harvey is still dialing in his mechanics after a long layoff. Club sources tell Ackert they don’t want the prized righty to come out of the gates too quickly anyway.
Nationals ace Max Scherzer felt good in a live BP session today, as Pete Kerzel of MASNsports.com reports. The veteran righty is still using a three-fingered fastball grip to protect his injured finger, but that doesn’t seem to be slowing him down. Scherzer worked up to 44 pitches in the session, so it seems as if he could be ready soon for a Grapefruit League appearance.
Another Nationals hurler, lefty Nick Lee, is looking at a much lengthier absence. As Kerzel tweets, the 26-year-old has been diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture in his left arm. Lee was hoping to spend the spring working to find the control that long has eluded him. Last year, he worked to a 4.32 ERA over fifty Double-A frames, striking out 9.9 and walking 7.6 batters per nine. The Nats obviously like his arm, as he had been added to the 40-man before losing his spot last summer.

NL East Notes: Nationals, Wieters, Mets, Arano, MacPhail

By Steve Adams | February 23, 2017 at 8:50pm CDT

Nationals ace Max Scherzer has been recovering from a stress fracture in the knuckle of his right ring finger, and he’s on track to throw off a mound for the first time this spring on Saturday, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports. If everything goes according to plan, he’ll progress to bullpen sessions and be game-ready in a couple of weeks, Zuckerman adds. While pitching coach Mike Maddux conceded that Scherzer could be “a start or two” behind the rest of the team’s rotation, the extra time in Spring Training (which was worked in due to the World Baseball Classic) will prove beneficial to Scherzer. Both Stephen Strasburg and Tanner Roark threw in an intrasquad game today as well, Zuckerman notes — a particularly important note for Strasburg. The 28-year-old righty saw his 2016 season end in early September due to a flexor mass strain but was able to throw his fastball, curveball and changeup in Thursday’s session.

East Notes: Hardy, Swihart, Wilson, Johnson, Scherzer

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | February 17, 2017 at 9:51pm CDT

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy underwent an MRI yesterday and a CT scan today due to back spasms that have been troubling him since late January, Hardy himself told reporters (via Peter Schmuck and Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun). Hardy has had back spasms in the past but doesn’t seem overly concerned by the injury, stating that they feel “similar to everything I’ve had in the past.” At this juncture, there doesn’t sound to be cause for significant concern, but the situation is certainly worth keeping an eye on.

A few more notes out of the game’s eastern divisions …

Spring Training is off to a rocky start for Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart, as Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reports. Though it’s obviously still early, Swihart has struggled badly with getting the ball back to the pitcher. As Drellich explains, that’s perhaps of particular concern here: Swihart is reacclimating to life behind the dish after a stint in the outfield (and then on the DL) in 2016 and has always faced questions about his defensive abilities.
The Rays have some interest in newly knuckleballing righty Brian Wilson, according to Marc Topkin and Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times. Once a power late-inning reliever, Wilson has battled injuries and hasn’t pitched competitively since 2014. Tampa Bay has dedicated resources to finding and developing knucklers, and trying out the soon-to-be-35-year-old would at least represent a fun-to-follow experiment.
Speaking of former closers, Jim Johnson will enter camp with a firm hold on the 9th inning for the Braves, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Atlanta extended the 33-year-old after his strong finish to the 2016 season, which included a run as the Braves’ closer. Johnson finished the year with 64 2/3 innings of 3.06 ERA ball on his ledger, supported by a surprising 9.5 K/9. A repeat of that strikeout rate seems unlikely, as Johnson’s 7.7% swinging-strike rate fell below the league average and right at his career mark, but he continues to induce plenty of groundballs.
After telling reporters yesterday that he was still experiencing symptoms from his broken right ring finger, Nationals righty Max Scherzer took part in a seemingly productive long toss session today, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post was among those to tweet. While it still seems likely that he’ll be delayed, and may not quite be ready to take the ball on Opening Day, it’s encouraging that Scherzer is not being held back entirely from throwing. The reigning National League Cy Young winner had been expected to participate in the World Baseball Classic, but those plans were already iced when the news emerged that he had been diagnosed with the fractured digit.

Max Scherzer Diagnosed With Stress Fracture In Knuckle

By Jeff Todd | January 9, 2017 at 7:23pm CDT

Nationals righty Max Scherzer has been diagnosed with what the club is calling a “stress fracture in the knuckle of his right ring finger.” Per the organization’s announcement, Scherzer will not participate as planned in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

Though the injury will knock Scherzer out of the international tournament, he is expected “to be a full participant” in spring camp. That’s certainly a promising element to the injury, which otherwise represents a somewhat concerning development for the 32-year-old workhorse.

Scherzer himself provided further details on his injured finger via Twitter. The issue actually arose in August, but did not prevent him from pitching (and performing quite well) down the stretch and into the postseason. Though he made plans to rest and then ramp up for the WBC, an MRI showed that he had a stress fracture which would necessitate further rest.

Given the diagnosis, it’s not at all surprising that a conservative course will be pursued. Washington will obviously want to protect its ongoing investment in Scherzer, who has earned just $30MM of the $210MM promised by the team in his seven-year contract. While deferrals reduce the overall value of that deal, there’s a lot riding on his ability to continue functioning as a top-level starter over the next five campaigns.

Beyond this newly disclosed injury, there’s plenty of reason for optimism. Scherzer has been one of the game’s most productive pitchers for some time now. After several strong but not overwhelming seasons with the Tigers, he turned in a Cy Young campaign in 2013 and has not looked back since. Scherzer most recently provided the Nats with 228 1/3 frames of 2.96 ERA ball in 2016, leading to a fourth-straight All-Star berth and another Cy Young award. He has also been exceptionally durable, making at least thirty starts in every season since 2009.

The Nationals are said to be looking to add rotation depth regardless, but any uncertainty surrounding Scherzer would certainly add to that interest. Washington dealt with injuries late in 2016 to such key staff members as Stephen Strasburg and Joe Ross, and dealt away two near-term rotation options earlier this winter (Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez) in the Adam Eaton trade.

Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello Win Cy Young Awards

By Jeff Todd | November 16, 2016 at 6:31pm CDT

Max Scherzer of the Nationals and Rick Porcello of the Red Sox have won the Cy Young Awards in their respective leagues, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced tonight.

That’s the second time the 32-year-old has taken home the hardware, though his prior award came in the American League (in 2013, with the Tigers). Scherzer led the N.L. with 228 1/3 innings, twenty wins, and a 0.968 WHIP. He ended the year with 2.96 ERA with 11.2 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9.

That showing was good enough to beat out Cubs hurlers Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks — who finished second and third, respectively. Scherzer ended up with 25 of the 30 first-place votes, reflecting a strong consensus, but in truth it was a widespread field full of worthwhile contenders. That includes the absurdly dominant Clayton Kershaw, who probably would have run away with the award had he not missed a dozen starts due to injury, and the dearly departed Jose Fernandez, who garnered down-ballot consideration after a dominant season that ended in tragedy.

Porcello’s win came over fellow finalists Justin Verlander of the Tigers and Corey Kluber of the Indians. All were worthy contenders in a year in which nobody put up a truly dominant year. The best A.L. pitchers on a rate basis was reliever Zach Britton, who managed a fourth-place finish despite the innings limitations inherent to his job.

The vote came with its share of controversy. Verlander received 14 of the 30 available first-place votes, but narrowly missed the award when he was left off of two ballots altogether. The 33-year-old threw 227 2/3 innings of 3.04 ERA ball, with 10.0 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9, whereas Porcello racked up 223 frames of 3.15 ERA pitching on the back of 7.6 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9. The difference, perhaps, was that the ultimate victor managed a sparkling 22-4 win-loss record, whereas Verlander carried a less notable 16-and-9 mark.

NL East Notes: WBC, Nats, Gonzalez, Blevins, Braves

By Steve Adams | November 2, 2016 at 11:03pm CDT

For those of you looking for some rain delay reading during one of the craziest games in World Series history, here are a few notes from the NL East…

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper isn’t likely to participate in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, but ace Max Scherzer is open to the idea, writes Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. The WBC provides players with an opportunity to represent their country on a global stage but can be a source of scrutiny as well due to the enhanced risk of injury and, in pitchers’ cases, the increased workload they face when voluntarily adding some intense innings to their schedule before the regular season even gets underway.
Janes also writes that the Nationals are likely to exercise their $12MM club option on lefty Gio Gonzalez. That doesn’t come as a significant surprise, as the free-agent market is devoid of starting pitching talent and, as she notes, Gonzalez would figure to command multi-year offers if he reached the open market. Furthermore, his contract contains a vesting option for the 2018 season, so he has two years of club control remaining, so long as he reaches 180 innings pitched in 2017. That’s no sure thing for Gonzalez, who is prone to abbreviated outings and high pitch counts. Those factors and the Nats’ bevy of young arms could prompt the team to explore the trade market for Gonzalez if they decide they’d like to move on, Janes notes, but I’d have to agree that simply declining his option makes little sense even if the team’s preference is to get younger.
The Mets would like to have Jerry Blevins back in 2017 and covet a veteran lefty specialist to complement southpaws Josh Smoker and Josh Edgin, per ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin, but team officials expect that the 33-year-old Blevins will find a fairly lucrative multi-year deal in free agency this winter. Blevins was effective in 2016, tossing 42 innings of 2.79 ERA ball with 11.1 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 45.8 percent ground-ball rate while earning a $4MM salary. A multi-year pact does indeed seem possible for the lefty in spite of some curious reverse platoon splits. The .258/.313/.324 line that Blevins yielded to lefties appears to be largely driven by a .368 BABIP from same-handed opponents, and the .637 OPS that he surrendered is hardly a robust mark anyhow.
The Braves have hired Orioles bullpen coach Dom Chiti as their new senior director of pitching, according to MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (Twitter links). Atlanta is also adding former O’s pitching coach Dave Wallace, per Kubatko. Wallace will function as a roving instructor throughout the team’s minor league system. Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun writes that Wallace signed a two-year deal with the Braves and adds that the loss is notable for the Orioles organization, pointing out that Zach Britton credits the duo with his development into the dominant closer he has become.

Nationals Links: Desmond, Perez, Zimmerman

By Mark Polishuk and Steve Adams | February 23, 2016 at 12:52pm CDT

Here’s the latest from the D.C. camp…

Ian Desmond’s former Nationals teammates are flabbergasted by the fact that the shortstop has yet to sign with a team, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. “I don’t think there is a draft pick out there who is better than Ian Desmond,” Bryce Harper said. “I don’t there is a draft pick out there who is a better guy or person in the clubhouse than him.” Harper and Max Scherzer both feel that the qualifying offer is largely behind Desmond’s lingering presence on the market, with Harper opining that the QO system is “something baseball definitely needs to change.” Scherzer thinks the qualifying offer “literally has to be” the biggest and maybe only factor why Desmond is still available. “There’s no other reason why a team would not want to sign a shortstop like that. ….You could see the power. You could see the speed. You just don’t find that out of a shortstop,” Scherzer said.
Oliver Perez’s previous stint with the Nationals consisted of 16 Double-A games in 2011, but the southpaw tells MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman that this stint helped revive his career. Minor league pitching coordinator Spin Williams encouraged Perez to become a full-time reliever in order to pave a quicker road back to the majors, and Perez has taken that advice to the bank. In four seasons since shifting to the bullpen, Perez has become a quality lefty specialist and is now back in Washington on a much more lucrative contract.
Ryan Zimmerman spoke to reporters (including Zuckerman) for the first time since his name was cited in the controversial Al Jazeera documentary that alleged Zimmerman, Ryan Howard, Peyton Manning and several other notable athletes were using PEDs. Zimmerman firmly denied any allegations made in the documentary and noted that he and Howard were so eager to clear their names that they filed a defamation lawsuit against Al Jazeera, despite the fact that such a suit could lead to more public scrutiny. “It’s one of those things where privacy is really not privacy anymore for me,” Zimmerman said. “It’s unfortunate that I have to do that, but that’s the steps I’m willing to take to show people that I have nothing to hide.”

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