Max Scherzer's Arm A Big Concern for Dodgers

After a relatively lacklustre performance (for him), in which he lasted only 4.1 innings, Los Angeles Dodgers ace Max Scherzer admitted that he was suffering from "dead arm" Sunday night. Not ideal for the Dodgers, who are already down 2-0 to the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, and badly need Scherzer's arm to be alive and well later in the series.

Max Scherzer: "My arm was dead. I could tell when I was warming up that it was still tired."
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) October 18, 2021

He told the Los Angeles Times' Bill Shaikin that sometimes in that situation, when he feels a "dead arm" during his warmups, that it can sometimes resolve after about 45 pitches. Unfortunately, it did not during Game 2 Sunday night.

Scherzer left after 79 pitches, allowing 2 runs, 4 hits and a walk along with 7 strikeouts. Make no mistake, a lot of pitchers would kill for a line like that, but for the 3-time Cy Young Award winner (and a leading contender this year for a 4th), in an NLCS start...that's just not up to par.

Could this be attributed to the energy Scherzer expended during that extremely high-leverage, intensity-filled 9th inning of the ALDS deciding game only three days earlier? It's certainly possible. But the 37-year-old Scherzer has been down this road before in the playoffs, and expects more of his body.

He got the save in that series-clinching win against the San Francisco Giants—the first save of his career, in the Dodgers first ever playoff series against the Giants—and then he trotted out for the start on Sunday with only two days' rest. He doesn't feel, though, that this should be a problem later in this series:

He said he thought he could make his next start: "I wasn't dealing with red flag injuries, it was just my arm was tired."
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) October 18, 2021