Here are the Post and MASN accounts of the Scherzer live BP.
What are the take aways? The response could best be described as tepidly positive. Max and everyone seemed to think the velocity was there, but there was no radar* so we don't know if the Mordecai** is as fast as his normal fastball. There didn't seem to be good contact against his pitching but you are talking about (1) 2 innings of pitching, and (2) AA batters (at best). A lot of good contact would have been alarming. There was a loss of command after one inning which isn't abnormal for someone starting to get back his major league readiness after the off-season, but it reminds you that he's starting to get back his major league readiness and we're less than a month until Opening Day. And one thing that doesn't even need a "but", I didn't hear anything about swings and misses. A lot of bad contact is fine, but there should be some "no contact" mixed in there.
What's next? Well if Max moves to a Grapefruit League game we can keep thinking he might get around to starting the season officially in rotation. That might be Opening Day, but more likely means a 4th or 5th start - wherever they can fit him in. If it's a simulated game, I'd go ahead and expect him to miss at least a start as it's hard to imagine him having enough time against real opponents to work up to where he needs to be. If it's not even that... well then you can start to worry.
*if you are a conspiracy theorist this is the 2nd time in 5 days where there was no radar available for public consumption for a Nats injury recovering pitcher. The Palm Beach Park radar wasn't working for Strasburg's start either. Do I think it's on purpose.... Maybe I do. Do I think it means something bad? Not really. More message control then avoidance.
**Yes I'm calling his 3-fingered fastball this as long as I want to.
What is the Mordecai reference?
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Brown
ReplyDeleteEasy to imagine the phone call between Rizzo and the ground crew chief instructing him to ensure that the radar is not working. No need for everyone to know how many ticks below normal the reigning Cy Young awardee's fastball is. Not at this stage.
ReplyDeleteMore important is why this injury wasn't being dealt with in the off-season. Do $200M arms really "switch off" for the entire off-season? Hard to believe that they don't have pre-season check-ups and recuperation planning in December-January for such major investments.
I have more faith in Scherzer as an individual than I do in the Nats medical and training staff.
ND - I imagine the injury is a "time & rest" issue. But it just hasn't worked out which means either more time & rest (with an unknown return time) or surgery. Both mean missing more of the season. Since everything else seems fine Max is trying to split the difference, Rest - but not rest
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's spring fever, but I'm not too worried about it. As long as the dreaded pre-2016 Nats medical staff doesn't strike with him missing a month or two I'm ok. Plus early April you can usually go with a 4 man rotation with some fill in spot starts. Looking at their rotation they would need a 5th starter Sunday April 9th in Philly and April 23 in New York. After that they go a while between days off with their next day off on Monday, May 1.
ReplyDeleteI'm devastated that there was no John Lannan take.
ReplyDeleteIs it because it is below the surface?
And with that I'll see myself back to Syracuse.
Baseball-wise, the worst times of the year are when pitchers and catchers report and the beginning of spring training. They taunt you with meaningful baseball, but actually give you nothing. At least during the boring days of the offseason you know there's nothing so you can tune it out.
ReplyDeleteActually, I'll say it's the worst time of the year overall as well. It's the end of the winter, where the coldness has lost its novelty and has overstayed its welcome. You're in between holidays and work is usually in full gear. Just a dismal time all around.
I'm fun at parties.
Supposedly the Nats are trying to convert Lannan to a submariner? That's...interesting. Didn't we learn that submariners aren't that big a deal like a decade ago? Granted I guess it can't hurt since Lannan will probably never pitch in the majors again unless he tries something drastic like this
ReplyDeleteMike K - so true. But Spring is right around the corner - and with that brings possibly the best single week in sports: the Final Four, The Masters, and Opening Day.
ReplyDelete@mike k- you clearly need to move to where we moved from DC- the Texas Gulf Coast. No cold weather here and no state taxes.
ReplyDeleteChar R - Ah yes, the land of Galveston, 1900. Who needs NOAA?
ReplyDeleteOops, sorry Chaz
ReplyDelete