NL East Notes: Prado, Harvey, Scherzer, Strasburg

Marlins third baseman Martin Prado left last night’s WBC action clutching his hamstring, leading to fears that he may have suffered a reasonably significant injury. Early indications are that it’s minor, tweets MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, though a full diagnosis will not be available until Prado is evaluated by the organization’s medical staff. He’s heading back to the club’s spring facilities for just that purpose.

Here’s more from the NL East:

• Mets starter Matt Harvey isn’t showing his typical velocity levels this spring, as James Wagner of the New York Times writes, but that the import of that fact remains open to interpretation. The star righty, who’s working back from thoracic outlet surgery, was somewhat philosophical. “It is what it is,” he said. “It’s going to be there or it’s not. I have to go out there and pitch … .” Skipper Terry Collins, meanwhile, said that he’s focused more on whether Harvey is commanding his pitches than how fast they’re coming in. And as John Harper of the New York Daily News notes, pitching coach Dan Warthen suggests that it’ll likely just take more time for the velo to return. As things stand, Harvey is sitting in the 92 to 93 mph range with his fastball, which is around two ticks slower than he worked last year.
• The health and effectiveness of Nationals staff aces Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg will go a long way toward determining the team’s 2017 outlook. The former is building up today with a three-inning outing, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports (links to Twitter). He’ll be working on reintroducing his typical fastball grip to the mix after utilizing a three-finger approach for the bulk of the spring to protect the fractured finger that has held him back. Though manager Dusty Baker acknowledged it’s unlikely Scherzer will be able to take the ball on Opening Day, it also seems reasonable to hope he won’t need to open the year on the DL. As for Strasburg, the club thinks that it has identified and corrected a pitch-tipping issue with the help of pitching coach Mike Maddux, as Janes also writes.