Worries in Washington

On Monday, the Nationals announced that Max Scherzer would miss the upcoming World Baseball Classic, to give his right hand more time to heal. Until the team mentioned it, the reigning Cy Young Award winner hadn't heard anything about a stress fracture in the knuckle of his right ring finger. Max said (in a story on the Nats website) it began to bother him in late August. And here's where the concern begins -- even though he was off from October through December, the pain never went away.
Clearly, giving their number-one pitcher all the time he needs to heal has to be their top priority -- especially with the Mets getting their injured moundsmen back this year.
Time might not be on Max's side -- pitchers and catchers begin to report for spring training five weeks from now.

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