With Max back in action, Nats even mightier

March 22nd, 2017

JUPITER, Fla. -- OK, that's one less item on manager Dusty Baker's worry list, and another brick in the wall for the Nationals.
"Pitchers pitch. Bridge-builders build," Max Scherzer said. "I want to be out there on the mound competing."
And so he was on Wednesday afternoon in Washington's 6-1 loss to St. Louis. And for a guy who didn't throw a baseball until the beginning of Spring Training, he looked just like, well, Max Scherzer.
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That means the Nats can pencil Scherzer in for the usual 33 or 34 starts, 228 innings and 284 strikeouts. In the past three seasons, only Boston's has made more starts and pitched more innings in the Majors.
Scherzer's good health may not guarantee the Nationals their fourth postseason appearance in six seasons, but it's a step in the right direction.
Scherzer threw 73 pitches in his first appearance of the spring. His fastball touched 92-93 mph, and his offspeed stuff looked crisp. And although the Cardinals touched Scherzer up for two earned runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings, what really matters is that he walked off the mound feeling good.
"That's a great first outing," Scherzer said. "Get my pitch count up, executing all the offspeed pitches, coming out of that very good."
Scherzer injured a knuckle in his pitching hand last season, and in pushing through it, suffered a stress fracture. His offseason throwing program was delayed enough that the Nats weren't sure if he'd begin the season on the disabled list. But with two more scheduled spring appearances, Scherzer's first regular-season start likely will be delayed only a couple of days. At the moment, he lines up for the third game, on April 6 against the Marlins at Nationals Park.
"Going out there for the fifth [inning], I was fatigued," Scherzer said. "I mean, that's a good thing in Spring Training when you're pitching through fatigue. Those last 10 to 15 pitches, that's what was great."
Now, about what this means for the Nationals. In the past five seasons, only one team -- the Cardinals -- has won more regular-season games.
Along with the Nats' 458 victories have come three National League East championships and, for 2017, another season of high hopes.
To be so good for so long speaks volumes about the Nationals -- how they're operated, how they're constructed. And because they've yet to win a postseason series, there's a sense of unfinished business.
They're a reminder of the razor-thin margin that decides championships. One play. One pitch.
The Nats have twice pushed the NL Division Series to a deciding Game 5. In 2012, they had a six-run lead over the Cards in Game 5 that became a 9-7 loss. In 2014, they lost a pair of one-run games at home on their way to a Game 4 elimination loss to the Giants.
Finally, last season, in a Dodgers-Nationals NLDS that featured three one-run games, walked in from the bullpen on one day of rest and got the final two outs of another one-run loss, this one 4-3 in the deciding Game 5.
Of Washington's 14 postseason games, eight have been decided by one run. But the Nats are going to be good again, going to be pushing again, most likely back in the postseason.
To have been this good for this long in a sport that tests teams relentlessly is a testament to a great organization. And someday they'll be rewarded for their resilience.
"You know you've got a good team when you come to Spring Training," Baker said. "Basically, all you can ask for is to be in the hunt. The more times you're there, the better chance you have.
"How about some of those teams that leave Spring Training and know they don't have much of a chance unless everything goes right? I'd much rather be us."
General manager Mike Rizzo filled one hole this offseason by acquiring center fielder from the White Sox, which allowed 23-year-old to move back to shortstop, his natural position.
No NL lineup is better. If stays healthy, the rotation will be among the top five in baseball.
The Nationals don't have a proven closer, but Rizzo has assembled such a cast of relievers with great stuff that the bullpen could end up being a strength.
"To go into the season feeling confident that we have a 90-win type of team is something our organization is proud of," Rizzo said. "A 90-win team gives you a chance to get in the playoffs, and once you get there, anything can happen."
See you in October?
"With this group that we believe can win the World Series, you always feel like there's stuff that we have in front of us we need to accomplish," Scherzer said. "For us, I know we're all itching at the bit to get back out there in the regular season and try to win this NL East. It's going to be a heck of a challenge with the teams in our division. It's going to be a fight. We're looking forward to it."