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Nationals opt for cautious approach to Scherzer's sprained ankle

Max Scherzer took the news better than might be expected.

After spraining his left ankle during conditioning training about two weeks ago, manager Dave Martinez put a kibosh on Scherzer’s usual full-speed approach to spring training.

The 36-year-old right-hander tends to begin spring training throwing 45 to 50 pitches in the bullpen. He’s a competitor who pitched seven scoreless innings with a broken nose and black eye in 2019. He’s entering the final year of his contract with the Washington Nationals, another motivating factor to come out firing.

Instead, Martinez’s message to Scherzer was one of caution, not wanting a minor ankle injury in February to amount into anything of more concern down the line.