Homecoming King: Max Scherzer Announces Shocking Return To Nationals With Full Signing As MLB…

The Nationals announced that right-hander Max Scherzer has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder fatigue. Left-hander Walter Pennington was recalled in a corresponding move.

It’s been a challenging season for Scherzer, who just celebrated his 40th birthday last week. He underwent back surgery in the offseason and initially hoped to return some time in the middle to the end of May, but then he was delayed by some nerve irritation in his thumb and didn’t make his season debut until June 23.

He has since made eight starts for the club but questions surrounding his health popped up recently. He only lasted two innings on July 20 and later told the media he was experiencing arm fatigue, with Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News among those to relay the message along on X. He felt good enough to make his next start on July 25, tossing six innings against the White Sox. But on July 30, he only lasted four innings and 68 pitches against the Cardinals with manager Bruce Bochy relaying that arm fatigue was again present, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News on X.

All year long, it has seemed like the Rangers would have a rotation that would get gradually healthier over the course of the year. Scherzer was coming back from his back surgery while Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle were lined up to join the mix in the second half of the season after recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery. The reigning World Series champions were hoping to ride a rotation of Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Michael Lorenzen, Dane Dunning and Cody Bradford until that trio returned.

That was sort of going according to plan when Scherzer returned back in June but has kind of gone off the rails since. Dunning was on the IL for most of July due to shoulder soreness and recently returned in a relief role. Bradford missed a few months due to a low back strain but, like Dunning, returned recently in a relief role. Gray hit the IL due to a groin strain last week. The club felt good enough about the rotation depth to trade Lorenzen to the Royals for Pennington prior to the deadline.

With Scherzer now out of the mix, the healthy rotation is down to Heaney and Eovaldi. Bochy says Mahle could be back and start on Tuesday, per McFarland on X. José Ureña has been oscillating between the rotation and bullpen this year and is starting tonight’s game. Tomorrow’s starter is still listed as TBD with Eovaldi scheduled for Sunday. Perhaps Dunning or Bradford will have to take the lead tomorrow as part of a bullpen game.

All together, it’s a less than ideal situation as they try to cobble a rotation together for the next few weeks. The club is 52-57 and eight games back in the Wild Card picture. Some struggles from the Mariners and Astros mean that the Rangers are only 4.5 games away from the West division lead but they would have to catch both clubs in order to nab that spot. Doing so with a patchwork rotation for the next weeks will be tricky. The trade deadline has now passed, limiting the options for finding external help.

It’s also less than ideal for Scherzer personally, as he is heading towards free agency at the end of this season. Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post hinted on X tonight that the veteran righty is uncertain how much longer he can keep pushing his body to its limits. Perhaps he would consider retiring after this season, which would be understandable given his age and this mounting ailments. But he also has a reputation as a fierce competitor so it’s anybody’s guess as to when he’ll decide to hang up his cleats. In either case, he’ll undoubtedly be doing everything he can to get over his arm issues and find a way back on the mound in the coming months.