With Scherzer still out, Nationals need others to step up

PHOENIX - The Nationals played 17 series over a two-month stretch from late May until late July. They lost only one of those series, dropping two of three to the Braves in June on South Capitol Street.

Now all of a sudden, they've lost three series in a row, dropping two of three apiece to the Dodgers, Braves and Diamondbacks in their worst stretch of games since this whole in-season turnaround began.

Suffice it to say the Nationals really need to get themselves back on track. And who better to help get them on track than their ace and three-time Cy Young Award winner.

There's just one problem: Max Scherzer can't help them right now, because he remains on the injured list, with no clear timetable for his return.

Scherzer has made only one start in the last month, and that wasn't a particularly impressive one. He allowed three runs to the Rockies in five innings on July 25, then woke up the next morning with a tight upper back. An MRI revealed a strained rhomboid muscle, and Scherzer was placed back on the IL only days after he was activated following a 16-day stint with an inflamed bursa sac in his upper back.

Scherzer technically is eligible to come off the IL today, but that won't be happening. Though he's made some progress in recent days, playing catch on flat ground both Friday and Saturday, he has yet to attempt to throw off a bullpen mound.

That's a mandatory step any pitcher must take before a ballclub considers activating him off the IL. So Scherzer remains days away, if not more.

For a guy who has never missed any considerable amount of time due to injury in his career, this is foreign - and uncomfortable - territory.

"He definitely wanted to ramp it up yesterday, and we told him 'You're not quite there yet,'" manager Davey Martinez said Sunday. "It's frustrating, and as you all know, he wants to pitch every day if he could. But he's got to be smart, and we've got to be smart about it. So when we get him back, we've got him back for the duration."

The Nationals initially intended to have Scherzer for a pair of series against the division-leading Braves, but he made neither start. He didn't face the Dodgers in D.C. He didn't face the Diamondbacks in Phoenix. And now he won't be facing the Giants in San Francisco either.

The Nats are left instead to start Erick Fedde, Aníbal Sánchez and Joe Ross in their three-game series at Oracle Park.

At a time when they desperately need their ace, the Nationals have no choice but to display patience and wait for the day when he's 100 percent ready to pitch without fear of more serious injury.

Until then, someone else is going to have to step up and deliver.