Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer is headed back to the injured list for the second time this month, meaning the three-time Cy Young Award winner will miss this week’s series against the Atlanta Braves.
The Nationals announced hours before Monday’s series opener against Atlanta that Scherzer has been placed on the 10-day IL with a mild rhomboid strain. The team has not disclosed a timeline for how long he will be sidelined.
The move is retroactive to July 26, the day after Scherzer’s most recent outing against the Colorado Rockies.
Scherzer recently underwent an MRI that revealed the rhomboid strain and was unable to throw his bullpen session Sunday, leading Nationals manager Davey Martinez to acknowledge that he was “very doubtful” to make his next scheduled start Tuesday against the Braves.
Scherzer has been dealing with back pain since his June 30 outing against the Detroit Tigers and was placed on the IL the weekend after the All-Star Game. He returned Thursday against the Rockies, allowing three runs in five innings.
The Nationals (56-49) enter Monday 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Braves (62-44) in the National League East. Right-hander Erick Fedde was recalled from Double-A Harrisburg in a corresponding move Monday and is a candidate to fill in for Scherzer against Atlanta.
In 20 starts this season, Scherzer is 9-5 with a 2.41 ERA and an NL-best 189 strikeouts. Before hitting the IL earlier this month, he was named NL Pitcher of the Month for June after going 6-0 with a 1.00 ERA.
Scherzer had only made two trips to the IL in his entire career (2009, 2017) prior to this season.
ESPN’s Eddie Matz contributed to this report.