Washington Nationals Injury Update: Max Scherzer returns to 10-Day IL; Erick Fedde up to face Atlanta Braves tonight...

Davey Martinez was skeptical when asked about the possibility of Max Scherzer starting in any of this week’s three games against the Atlanta Braves when he spoke to reporters after the Nationals’ victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Sunday’s series finale in the nation’s capital.

“He didn’t throw his bullpen today,” Washington’s second-year skipper explained, “... so we’ll reevaluate and see how he feels tomorrow. I have to say I’m very doubtful that he’ll make his start on Tuesday.”

Scherzer and the Nationals were hoping the 35-year-old ace would be able to face the NL East-leading Braves when he returned from the Injured List after dealing with a mid-back issue that was eventually diagnosed as scapulothoracic bursitis, but the starter felt some discomfort the morning after he came the IL last week, and he was eventually diagnosed with a mild rhomboid strain, which the Nationals’ skipper said they were treating as two separate issues.

“The first time, it was just bursa inflammation,” Martinez said, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman on Monday. “And now he has a strain of the rhomboid muscle. Could it be related? Yeah, it’s in the same vicinity. But I know they’re treating it as something different.”

Scherzer received a cortisone shot as he worked his way back, and had a stem cell injection after the second issue cropped up, but things didn’t improve quickly enough for him to start against the Braves tonight, and Martinez expressed some skepticism about Scherzer potentially making it back out to the mound in time for Wednesday’s game when he spoke on Sunday.

“Like I said, we’ll feel out what happens with him tomorrow. He said he felt better today, he said he was able to actually do some stuff, but we’ll figure it out tomorrow.”

Before the opener with Atlanta last night, Scherzer was placed back on the 10-Day IL with Erick Fedde called up to start the second game with the Braves in Nationals Park tonight.

“We just want him to be 100%,” Martinez said before the series opener with Atlanta.

“We talked about this before, so for me it’s just, I told him, ‘Build yourself back up and when you’re ready to throw a bullpen we’ll see how it goes and go from there.”

Max Scherzer throws seven scoreless after breaking nose:

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Now that they know Scherzer, who went on the IL again retroactive to July 26th, won’t be able to return until at least August 5th, will they slow things down and not rush to get him back on the mound again?

“I know him and [trainer] Paul [Lessard], he’s doing other things to strengthen that area,” Martinez said, “... so he’s going to work with Paul and those guys and just let’s build up strength first and then go from there.”

And Scherzer’s reaction to the latest developments?

“He was not a happy camper,” his manager admitted, “... I mean, he wants to be out there competing, so this is kind of a tough deal for him, but I told him, I said, ‘Hey, we’ll get you right, you’ve got to stay positive.

“‘We’ll get you right and get you back out there and we’ll be right in the thick of things again.”