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At first, it was back tightness and a mid-back strain would keep the Washington Nationals ace out for a few days.
“We’re kind of stuck in a holding pattern right now,” Scherzer said Friday before revealing he wouldn't pitch against the Braves. “All I can do is come in here and do my work and get this thing right."
The new diagnosis: scapulothoracic bursitis.
“There’s nothing wrong structurally with the muscles. I’m strong, everything, the scap is strong. It’s just I’ve got this inflammation in the bursa sac there," Scherzer said.
"Never knew you had one. So that’s kind of the diagnosis that has me pulling my hair out."
“No, it was the same,” Martinez said. “It’s just a bursa sac underneath his scap, but you have to treat it as if it’s his back, and now it’s just getting the soreness out of there. That’s basically where we’re at.”
Scherzer told reporters he has been texting with former Nats relief pitcher Shawn Kelly who he said is going through the same thing.
"I was texting with him last night, and to get rid of this you’ve got to get a cortisone injection, and he said when he got the injection it took five or six days for it to clear up," Scherzer said. "When you get a cortisone injection usually after day three, that's usually when you feel your best. So yesterday I was kinda pulling my hair out because it was day three and it wasn't better."
While Mad Max is frustrated, he remains optimistic he will be good to go in a few days.
“But talking to Kelley it was five or six days and it worked for him," he said. "So right now I’m day four of that, so I’m trying to stay optimistic and say, 'Hey, in a couple days I should be feeling really good if this goes exactly how we think it should.'"
"So, I’m following their protocols to the tee and making sure I’m doing what I need to do, so when I feel good they give the thumbs-up of when I pitch.”