With the National League's second seed in the 2017 postseason, the Nationals faced the third seed, the National League Central-champion Chicago Cubs, who, as the winners of the 2016 World Series, were mounting their first defense of a World Series title since 1908. On October 4, 2017, the Cubs announced that Kyle Hendricks would start Game 1 of the Division Series while Jon Lester would start Game 2, José Quintana Game 3, and Jake Arrieta Game 4. On October 5, Dusty Baker announced that Stephen Strasburg would start Game 1 for the Nationals, but did not specify starters for any other NLDS games. The Nationals later announced that Gio González would start Game 2 and Max Scherzer would start Game 3, giving Scherzer additional time to recover from a hamstring tweak he had suffered in his last start of the regular season on September 30. On October 8, Dusty Baker announced that Tanner Roark would start Game 4.