Scherzer gave up seven unearned runs in 2.2 innings during Friday's Grapefruit League game against the Nationals, allowing five hits and striking out one.

EDGE Analysis

The veteran right-hander was having a little fun trying out different strategies to exploit the new pitch clock and use it to his advantage by messing up hitters' timing, but his experiments back-fired in the third inning when he got charged with a balk, and some shaky defense by Luis Guillorme at shortstop contributed to an eight-run frame for Washington. This outing will be long forgotten by the time Opening Day rolls around, and Scherzer's 6:0 K:BB through his first 4.2 spring innings is a far better indicator of where he is in his preparations for the regular season.