The Washington Nationals are stuck in the middle of a tough stretch of games that could legitimately make or break the entire rest of their season. While this might seem dramatic, the Nationals did their part by winning the first series of their hard stretch over this weekend against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but things just don't get any easier for the team that resides in our Nation's Capital.
Over the next couple of weeks, the Nationals will face teams like the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs, but they first will have a tough interleague opponent for 3 games against the Toronto Blue Jays. The interesting part about welcoming the Blue Jays to town is that the new-age Nationals will get a chance to face a former Nationals franchise legend on Monday night.
Max Scherzer coming off IL to face former team at Nationals Park
As the line above reads, Nationals legend Max Scherzer is finally getting a chance to face his former club while toeing the rubber on the mound he used to own and dominate on every 5 days. Scherzer, who actually is celebrating his 42nd birthday today by returning to the place he called home for almost 7 full years, will be faced with a huge test when he takes the mound against the Nationals.
Scherzer has finally begun to look like father time is catching up to him over the past couple of seasons, and he carries a 1-4 record accompanied by a 10.23 ERA and 1.727 WHIP in 6 starts into Monday night's start. Facing the top offense in the league on the road is a tough way to have to come off the Injured List for Scherzer, but perhaps he will be able to turn back the clock on his old mound.
Hopefully for the Nationals sake he doesn't, as this is a huge stretch of games, and a series victory or sweep of the Blue Jays could give the Nationals some more cushion as they try to convince the front office they should be buyers. With guys like Foster Griffin being dangled out there for trades as the deadline draws closer, perhaps newcomer Connelly Early will have some fellow new faces joining him on the club as soon as this week, depending how things play out.
What do you expect the Nationals lineup will do against Max Scherzer? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.
Add us as a preferred source on Google