No surprise here: Max Scherzer will have the ball in his hands when he begins the final season of his seven-year, $210 million contract with the Washington Nationals. Scherzer will make his Nationals-record sixth opening day start April 1, facing the New York Mets in Washington. It’ll be a rematch of an exhibition mound matchup Sunday, when Scherzer allowed two homers and threw 90 pitches in five innings of a 6-2 loss to the Mets and starter Jacob deGrom in West Palm Beach, Florida. “He’s the guy. He’s the guy that gets everything started for us,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said in explaining his decision to use Scherzer in Game 1 — which, of course, was the expected outcome.
Deadline plans for North Division contenders
