Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams delivered the news everyone anticipated Saturday night. Max Scherzer will pitch on Sunday, meaning he will not be available to pitch in Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
Scherzer will still head to Cincinnati to attend the all-star festivities. He will not be facing any of his former foes in the American League, however.
“He’s excited to pitch [Sunday],” Williams said. “He’s excited for his next start and to help us win a game, hopefully. He’s very focused on that. We’ll see how it is [Sunday].”
Entering Saturday, Scherzer led the National League with 123 1/3 innings pitched and three complete games. Last season, Scherzer threw a career-high 220 1/3 innings. He is on pace to blow by that total this season. If Scherzer makes 33 starts this season — he’ll have 18 at the all-star break and could come right back the Friday after the break — and maintains his average start of 7 2/3 innings, he will hit 238 innings by season’s end.
“Looking at the second half, it’s important for us to have him out there as often as we can,” Williams said.
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