Los Angeles Dodgers ace Max Scherzer is the best pitcher in baseball right now.
He has been absolutely unstoppable since joining the Dodgers, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
There’s no doubt that the 37-year-old will enter the Hall of Fame once he retires.
If it could happen sooner, it would.
But in the meantime, let’s appreciate the once-in-a-lifetime pitcher that Scherzer is.
Scherzer Collected His 3,000th Career Strikeout Over The Weekend
Scherzer added to his decorated resume over the weekend when he collected his 3,000th career strikeout.
It came against the San Diego Padres, and it was a really cool moment.
It’s no surprise that he accomplished the feat.
The righty has always been a strikeout machine.
In 2016, he tied the single-game record with 20 strikeouts in one contest.
He also has nine 200-strikeout seasons under his belt, including a 300-strikeout campaign in 2018.
Hitters do well just to make contact against this guy.
He Has 3 Cy Young Awards To His Name
Scherzer is a three-time Cy Young Award winner.
Needless to say, that’s an exceptionally rare accomplishment.
His first Cy Young season came in 2013 with the Detroit Tigers.
That year, he went 21-3 and posted a 2.90 ERA, 2.74 FIP, and 0.97 WHIP.
His second one came in 2016 with the Washington Nationals, a year in which he managed yet another 20-win season.
He finished with a 2.96 ERA, 3.24 FIP, and 0.97 WHIP.
He led the league in strikeouts that year with 284.
As if that wasn’t impressive enough, he followed it up with another Cy Young Award the following year (2017).
That season, he managed a 2.51 ERA, 2.90 FIP, and 0.90 WHIP.
Once again, he led the league in strikeouts with 268.
That’s madness.
Given the way Scherzer is throwing the ball in 2021, it’s not far-fetched to think that he could win another Cy Young Award before he retires.
He’s definitely a candidate in this year’s race.
Year In And Year Out, He Leads The League In Major Categories
Scherzer is constantly leading the league in major statistical categories. Year in and year out, it’s a regular occurrence. See for yourself:
- He has led the league in strikeouts in three different seasons (2016, 2017, 2018)
- He has led the league in wins in four different seasons (2013, 2014, 2016, 2018)
- He has led the league in WHIP in four different seasons, five if you include the current campaign (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021)
- He has led the league in strikeouts per nine innings in three different seasons (2012, 2018, 2019)
- He has led the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio in four different seasons (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019)
- He has led the league in hits per nine innings in two different seasons, three if you include the current campaign (2017, 2018, 2021)
- He has led the league in WAR for pitchers in two different seasons (2016, 2017)
Needless to say, it’s exceptionally rare to see this kind of sustained dominance over the course of roughly a decade.
Scherzer is just a different breed, and it might be a very long time until we see another pitcher like him in the big leagues.
He will almost certainly be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and there’s a chance he could get in unanimously.
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