Muscle strain leaves Scherzer's status up in the air

Though he felt fine in the immediate aftermath of Thursday's start against the Rockies, Max Scherzer cautioned all along he wouldn't know he was in the clear from his lingering back injury until he saw how he felt after he woke up today.

So when Scherzer arose this morning and felt tightness in his upper back, he was frustrated but not surprised. And now the Nationals ace again faces uncertain status for his next start.

Scherzer had an MRI taken earlier today, and that test revealed what he described as a "mild strain" of his rhomboid muscle above his right shoulder blade. He said he then received a stem cell injection, which will require him to take two days off. He'll attempt to resume throwing after that, at which point he'll know if he can make his next start (currently scheduled for Tuesday night against the Braves).

"I'm not happy," the right-hander said. "But on the other hand, we're talking minor strain. There's a heck of a lot of other things that could be wrong with your body and arm and shoulder. Those are really - knock on wood - those are the bad stuff."

Scherzer is trying to remain optimistic about the situation, but clearly this hasn't progressed as well as he or the Nationals hoped when he first experienced back pain one month ago. He spent 19 days between starts but was confident, after getting a cortisone shot to relieve inflammation of the bursa sac underneath his shoulder blade, that he was good to go when he returned Thursday to face Colorado.

Five innings, three runs and 86 pitches later, Scherzer said his shoulder and back felt fine, but his demeanor suggested he was still concerned the injury wasn't fully behind him. His concerns were confirmed this morning.

"There's no second-guessing the whole staff and the doctors," the veteran said. "I was 100 percent in the bullpen throwing every pitch, 100 percent Tuesday, 100 percent Wednesday. Letting the ball eat, felt no pain. So every time I've been in that situation, I take the ball. I figure: Take the ball. But I just didn't recover from this one as well as I thought I was going to recover."

Scherzer is able to remain somewhat optimistic because of past history. He said he feels much better now than he did after his July 6 start against the Royals (which landed him on the injured list). He also said he has received stem cell injections for previous ailments and has been able to make his next start.

"I'm still holding out hope that that's kind of what happens here," he said. "I've been in predicaments before. There's so much that you guys ... that just goes underneath the rug. Just little stuff like this, but obviously with this ... it is what it is."

If Scherzer can't go Tuesday, the Nationals would likely need to recall Erick Fedde, who was just optioned to Double-A Harrisburg after starting Wednesday afternoon, to take his place. They're already facing a back-of-the-rotation crunch, with Austin Voth on the IL with shoulder tendinitis and Joe Ross likely needed to make a fill-in start Saturday against the Dodgers.

Even if Scherzer thinks he's ready for the Braves, the Nationals face a tricky call. Do they throw their ace against the team they're trying to track down for the division lead, or do they take the cautious route and hold him back?

"We got to be smart about this," manager Davey Martinez said. "We got to be smart. Like I said before: We need him for the whole year. We'll see how he reacts to the shot."

That's an easier line to hold with other pitchers. With Scherzer, it's a trickier balancing act because the three-time Cy Young Award winner is a maniacal workhorse who has rarely missed any time due to injury during his career.

"One, you got to understand the person, what you're dealing with," Martinez said. "And knowing he wants to be able to help his team. But then you got to also think about his future, the future of this organization and the games he is going to pitch in come September. We're going to really need him. And sometimes with Max it's tough for him to understand, because he's all about the now. ...

"He's aggravated. I told him: 'Let's just get you right. When you're right, you're one of the best. Let's get it right this time.'"