Max Scherzer named Washington Nationals’ Opening Day starter for 2019

[ed. note - “We had a feeling the following announcement would come today, so we had the opening bit below in the report on today’s Grapefruit League game. Manager Davey Martinez made the official announcement on Max Scherzer being the Washington Nationals’ Opening Day starter after the right-hander’s fourth outing of the Spring this afternoon.”]

Davey Martinez joked early this Spring that he knew who his Opening Day starter was going to be long before pitchers and catchers even arrived in West Palm Beach, telling reporters if he said anything different he knew he’d have to answer to the Washington Nationals’ ace.

“Right now, the way it looks, of course, we’ve got our guy,” Martinez explained, referring, of course, to Max Scherzer, in his first press conference from Florida.

“If I said anything different, he might be waiting for me out the door right there.”

Nothing that’s happened in Scherzer’s first three starts changed the manager’s plans, and he put together another solid outing in Jupiter, FL this afternoon, where he took on the St. Louis Cardinals in Grapefruit League action.

After the game, Martinez made it official: Scherzer will get the Opening Day nod for the 4th time in the last five seasons, tying both Livan Hernandez and Stephen Strasburg for the most Opening Day starts for the organization since baseball returned to the nation’s capital in 2005.

Scherzer will take on the New York Mets in the first game of the season on March 28, 2019, in a 1:05 PM EDT start in Nationals Park.

Jacob deGrom, who beat Scherzer out for the NL Cy Young last season, will start for the Mets.