Nationals Announce Anibal Sanchez as NLDS Game 3 Starter

Baseball fans were left utterly bewildered on Friday night when Max Scherzer sashayed out of the Washington Nationals bullpen to pitch the eighth inning of Game 2 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Scherz had thrown close to 100 pitches just a few days earlier in the Wild Card Game, and he was (at the time) predicted to be Washington's starter in Game 3.

Well, his heavy usage will result in the Nats pushing his start back to Game 4, and Anibal Sanchez will get the nod for Sunday night's pivotal showdown in the nation's capital.

This decision really shouldn't come as a surprise. The three-time Cy Young looked as good as ever out of the bullpen in Game 2, but overusing him is just asking for consequences. Manager Dave Martinez absolutely made the right call to tab Sanchez the starter for tonight.

The 35-year-old right-hander was up-and-down for the plurality of 2019, posting a 11-8 record with a 3.85 ERA and 1.271 WHIP across 30 starts, but he was nothing short of imposing in the final month of the campaign.

In his four starts (26 innings) to close out the year, Sanchez compiled a 2.42 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, and a striking 16:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Sanchez has postseason experience which will certainly work in his favor Sunday night, but we still expect Martinez to have the vet hurler on a short leash.