Max Scherzer Suffered Broken Nose Injury After Taking Bunt off Face in BP

Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer suffered a nose injury during batting practice prior to Tuesday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Per The Athletic's Brittany Ghiroli, Scherzer suffered a broken nose and his status for Wednesday's start is to be determined. Per Mark Zuckerman of MASN, Scherzer was hit in the face by a ball he bunted during batting practice 

Losing Scherzer for a significant amount of time would be a monumental setback for the Nationals, who have been a disappointment with a 33-38 record. 

The 34-year-old has been durable throughout his career, starting at least 30 games every year except when he was a rookie in 2008. He won the National League Cy Young in the 2017 campaign with a head-turning 2.51 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 268 strikeouts in 200.2 innings and finished second in the Cy Young vote in 2018 with a 2.53 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 300 strikeouts in 220.2 innings

He's having another excellent run in 2019 with a 2.81 ERA and leads the National League with 136 strikeouts. 

Scherzer is a three-time Cy Young winner and six-time All-Star and serves as the anchor of Washington's staff, but there is enough talented depth to keep the Nationals pitching staff afloat if he has to miss time. 

The one-two punch of Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin would look great in any rotation. Erick Fedde and Anibal Sanchez provide depth to fill out the back end of the group.