Scherzer still recovering from comebacker, start in question

PHILADELPHIA - Though they've listed him as their starter for Saturday's game against the Pirates, the Nationals aren't 100 percent sure yet Max Scherzer will be able to pitch as scheduled because he's still feeling the effects of a comebacker off his lower right leg in his last outing.

Scherzer would normally have thrown off a bullpen mound today in advance of his next start. But with his ankle wrapped, he walked out to the field at Citizens Bank Park this afternoon and only threw off flat ground.

There's still another opportunity for Scherzer, who already was getting an extra day of rest during this trip through the rotation, to throw off a mound Thursday and still make his start as scheduled Saturday. That will be a necessary intermediate step, though, for the right-hander to be cleared to pitch.

"We'll see how he feels," manager Davey Martinez said. "He might want to come out tomorrow and throw a bullpen. Kind of nice he had that extra day, so we'll see how he feels tomorrow."

The Nationals hope Scherzer is good to go as planned, but they're already creating a contingency plan just in case he's not.

After Patrick Corbin starts Friday night's series opener against the Pirates, they could start Aníbal Sánchez on normal rest Saturday. After that, they could slot Scherzer back in at any point. Though again thanks to extra off-days on the schedule, they could wait as long as April 20 before they would absolutely need to have their ace on the mound without using a replacement starter like Joe Ross or Erick Fedde.

The injury occurred in the fifth inning of Sunday's win in New York, when Mets center fielder Keon Broxton ripped a comebacker off Scherzer's lower right leg. Scherzer scrambled to retrieve the ball and threw Broxton out at first as he was falling to the ground, then defiantly waved off a trainer who was preparing to come check on him.

The effects of the direct hit, though, seemed to start to take a toll on Scherzer as the game continued. He wound up surrendering hits to three of the first four batters he faced in the seventh before he was pulled.

"Right now, it feels like crap," Scherzer said after the start. "It was fine during the game. I was able just to kind of keep it moving and it didn't tighten up. But once I came out of the game, once you lose the adrenaline, it tightened up pretty good. So it kind of hurts to walk right now, but this was just a little bone bruise. I'll be fine here."