Fedde improves in second start, Scherzer ready to start tonight

CHICAGO - There's nothing like experience, and Erick Fedde made sure to take what he learned from his major league debut last week and apply it to Sunday's start against the Cubs.

For example: Trust his entire repertoire, not just two of his four pitches.

"The first game, I felt like I really got away from my breaking ball, and just turned into a two-pitch pitcher," the right-hander said. "Today, I got to all four of my pitches and stayed with them throughout the game and kept guys off-balance."

Fedde's final pitching line - four runs allowed in 5 1/3 innings - again wasn't anything special, but he was encouraged by the progress he made, as were the Nationals.

As he did in his debut against the Rockies, Fedde was all over the strike zone. He threw first-pitch strikes to 12 of the first 13 batters he faced, 18-of-24 overall. And unlike in his debut, he was able to put away Cubs hitters on a more consistent basis, striking out seven (six of them in the first four innings).

That's where Fedde's full complement of pitches paid off. After throwing only seven sliders out of 87 total pitches in his debut, he threw 21 of them out of 99 pitches this time. And he had the gumption to throw them in big spots, including twice with full counts to record strikeouts.

"(Catcher Matt) Wieters put down a lot of great signs for me today, and I was able to throw it with confidence," Fedde said. "I had a lot of success later in counts, keeping guys off-balance with different pitches."

Which isn't to say the rookie didn't make mistakes, because he did. He served up three solo homers (two to Willson Contreras, one to Kyle Schwarber). And when the Nationals needed him to complete the sixth inning and get the ball to the back end of their bullpen, he couldn't record more than one out, forcing Oliver Pérez to enter and clean up the mess.

But in the bigger picture, the Nationals were pleased with the steps their top pitching prospect took in his second big league start. It remains to be seen when his third big league start will come, but the club wants to see it.

"He looked great," Wieters said. "He just happened to have a couple mistakes and they made him pay for those. Other than that, his off-speed stuff, he was able to throw it in any count. Changeup was good. He was able to locate his fastball for the most part today. It's a good lineup over there, and I think he did a good job of being able to keep them off-balance other than a couple."

The plan for Fedde now is unclear in part because the Nationals are slowly but surely getting their rotation back together over the next few days. Before Sunday's game, they were listing all four starters for this week's series against the Marlins as "TBA" but following the game they announced their plan.

Max Scherzer will start tonight's opener, cleared to return to the mound six days after he abruptly departed after one inning with neck spasms.

A.J. Cole will pitch Tuesday's game, facing the Marlins for a second straight time in what amounts to one more fill-in start while the Nats get the rotation back in order.

Gio Gonzalez will start Wednesday night after going on paternity leave for the birth of his second child.

Tanner Roark will start Thursday's series finale, staying on schedule after pitching the opener of the weekend series here in Chicago.

Notably absent from that rotation is Stephen Strasburg, who has now been on the 10-day disabled list for 14 days with a nerve impingement in his elbow. Strasburg has been throwing throughout his DL stint, and yesterday he threw in the bullpen underneath the bleachers at Wrigley Field. But the Nationals have made no declarations about a timetable for the right-hander to return to the active roster.