Scherzer wants to know why Nats can't have fans in upper deck originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

As Max Scherzer took the mound for the Nationals on Tuesday, he and his teammates played in front of fans for the first time in over a year.

While it wasn’t a sellout crowd of 41,313 but rather 5,000 fans, it was still a step forward as sports look to return to normal amid the coronavirus pandemic.

However, looking around at all the empty seating in the ballpark, Scherzer couldn’t help but wonder why a few more fans couldn’t be in attendance while still remaining safe and following protocols.

“I’m also confused here. I don’t understand why there wasn’t fans in the upper deck,” Scherzer said. “I don’t understand why we can’t have more fans here. Somebody’s got to explain that to me because that doesn’t make sense to me whatsoever.”

To be clear, Scherzer has no problem with the guidelines that have been put in place to keep fans safe during the pandemic. Washington D.C. only allows 5,000 fans to enter Nationals Park as of now, and all groups of fans are socially distanced from one another.

Yet with the upper decks completely empty, Scherzer feels that there is more space within the ballpark to accommodate more fans while still remaining six feet away from one another.

“I understand that we need to be safe, I respect the virus. But we can also have fans in the top part of the deck,” Scherzer said. “We can have more fans in here safely. I would love an explanation, like I said, that’s all I’ll say.” 

The Nationals will continue to work with D.C. in order to evaluate health and safety guidelines and potentially expand the capacity limit as time goes on. For Scherzer, he’s hoping that a few extra cheers will be heard in the near future.