Max Scherzer accidentally drilled himself in the face during bunting practice

It’s been a rough go for the Washington Nationals thus far this season. They head into Tuesday trailing the Braves by nine games in the NL East and sit at five games below .500.

But just remember that because baseball is cruel, things can always — and I mean always — get worse.

During batting practice on Tuesday, Nationals ace Max Scherzer was participating in some light bunting work. That was when the ball took a weird ricochet off his bat struck him in the face.

An apparently bleeding Scherzer was in obvious pain and left the field with trainers. MASN shared video of the incident before the game against the Phillies.

WATCH – Max Scherzer, who's scheduled to start Wednesday, was hit in the face by a ball during batting practice.

Details: https://t.co/sNoPv3co00 pic.twitter.com/27FonlyC33

— Nationals on MASN (@masnNationals) June 18, 2019

The timing wasn’t ideal either as Scherzer was due to start in Wednesday’s game. The team provided this update:

Max Scherzer indeed suffered a broken nose this afternoon in bunting mishap, the Nationals confirmed. He underwent a CAT scan that was negative. #Nationals say "status is TBD" for tomorrow's start.

— Gabe Lacques (@GabeLacques) June 19, 2019

The Nats pitcher was seen wearing a splint on his nose after the accident.

Max Scherzer, who took a ball to the face in pitchers BP, sporting a splint on his nose.

— Brittany Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) June 18, 2019