Max Sherzer’s injured knuckle is not 100%, putting opening day in doubt:

“I’ve dealt with aches and pains and strains. This is a whole different ballgame,” Scherzer said Thursday. “When you start dealing with a fracture, rest is really your only option to make everything heal.”

Thursday was the first day of official workouts for Washington’s pitchers and catchers at the team’s new spring training facility. While others such as Stephen Strasburg, Tanner Roark or Gio Gonzalez stood atop a mound for a 10-minute bullpen session, Scherzer threw elsewhere.

Only this week did Scherzer start throwing baseballs at all in preparation for the 2017 season, and that was “with a modified grip, but not my true grip,” he explained. Before that recent step in the right direction, the righty was sticking to tossing tennis or lacrosse balls, because they were smaller and not as painful.

I suspect at this point in his career, Scherzer won’t need much time to get himself ready to pitch in the majors once the knuckle is healed. Dusty Baker was an optimist about the injury:

Dusty made two obvious but important points re Max: 1) better knuckle than elbow/shoulder. 2) fewer innings early means more strength late.

— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) February 16, 2017