Nationals Send Max Scherzer to IL With Back Injury

On Friday, Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez revealed that ace Max Scherzer would miss his scheduled start Sunday against the Phillies with tightness in his mid-back. In typical Mad Max fashion, he came out and said that the ailment was nothing to be concerned about. However, it turns out that Scherzer is in fact not invincible.

Roughly 20 hours after saying he would only miss one start, the three-time Cy Young winner has landed on the 10-day injured list with a back strain, retroactive to July 10. In a corresponding move, the Nats elected to call up catcher Spencer Kieboom from Double-A Harrisburg

The news truly couldn't come at a worst time for Washington, who, with a surprising surge in June, have vaulted ahead of Philadelphia and up to the second place in the National League East, six games behind the Braves.

And to nobody's surprise, the ageless 34-year-old has conducted the resurgence with a stellar 2.30 ERA and 2.00 FIP to go with averaging a whopping 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings thus far in 2019.

The Natties had better hope Scherz will only miss a max of two starts (pun intended). They currently have a 1.5-game cushion in the race for an NL Wild Card slot, and cannot afford to be without their superstar ace for an extended period of time.