Max Scherzer will have the ball in his hands when he begins the final season of his seven-year, $210 million contract with the Washington Nationals. Scherzer will make his Nationals-record sixth opening day start April 1, facing the New York Mets in Washington. It’ll be a rematch of an exhibition mound matchup Sunday, when Scherzer allowed two homers and threw 90 pitches in five innings of a 6-2 loss to the Mets and starter Jacob deGrom in West Palm Beach, Florida. It’ll be quite a way to get things going for Major League Baseball as three-time Cy Young Award winner Scherzer faces two-time honoree deGrom.
