Washington Nationals News: Max Scherzer discusses his recent struggles
By Pablo Roa
Good afternoon DoD readers, and welcome to today’s District Daily. Get caught up on the latest Nats news and opinions with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web below.
In today’s Daily, James Wagner of The Washington Post discusses how Nationals ace Max Scherzer believes he has figured out what has caused his recent struggles on the mound. As Wagner notes in his article, Scherzer has struggled mightily since the All-Star break and has looked nothing like his dominant self from the season’s first three months.
As Wagner writes in his article, Scherzer believes that the problem stems from his arm movement when he throws his usually dominant fastball. Here’s what Scherzer had to say about his struggles after his poor start against the Giants last week:
"“That’s kinda atypical when I give up damage,” he told Wagner after Friday’s game. “… It’s not a body mechanical thing. My legs and limbs are working in sync. It’s my arm action. It’s a small thing within my arm action where I’m not quite getting my fingers on top of the ball and it’s causing me to flatten everything out.”"
According to Wagner, Scherzer has had this issue before and has fixed it in a short amount of time. Hopefully for the Nationals, the right-hander can fix his delivery soon and return to his dominant, early-season form in time to help the Nats turn their season around.
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Also in today’s Daily, Business Insider’s Scott Davis discusses a key flaw in the Nationals’ offense—the fact that the team struggles to score runs when they are not hitting homers.
Be sure to check out both articles below, they’re definitely worth a read. And as always, stay tuned to DoD for all your Washington Nationals needs.
What Max Scherzer thinks is going wrong with his pitching lately
(James Wagner, Washington Post)
After getting knocked out of Friday’s start in San Francisco after allowing six runs, Max Scherzer sat in front of a screen and dissected footage of his delivery. For the first three-plus months of the season, Scherzer was arguably the best pitcher in baseball, possessing a 1.82 ERA, mountains of strikeouts and few walks.
But since July 7, Scherzer has pitched to a 5.05 ERA over eight starts. He has still struck out 55 batters, but also given up 11 home runs and walked nine after doing little of each much of the season. After another rough outing, this time against the Giants, Scherzer searched for the issue at the core of the inconsistency. Read full article here.
The Washington Nationals — the team everyone thought would dominate baseball — have a huge roster flaw that’s killing their offense
(Scott Davis, Business Insider)
The Washington Nationals are in a borderline unimaginable tailspin that’s dropped them below .500 with 45 games to go.
The Nationals have dropped six games in a row and are now four-and-a-half games out of the lead for the NL East.
While that’s not an insurmountable lead, it’s a shocking drop considering many people picked them to win the division and potentially compete in the World Series, too. Read full article here.
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