Max Scherzer
1909
After a win against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 28, 2013, Scherzer became the first Tigers pitcher to ever start a season 12–0, surpassing the 11–0 start from George Mullin in 1909. With a win against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 3, Scherzer also became the first major league starter to begin a season 13–0 since Roger Clemens in 1986. The streak ended with a loss to the Texas Rangers on July 13.
1912
On August 8, Scherzer recorded his 1,000th career strikeout when he fanned Jason Kipnis of the Cleveland Indians. With a win over the New York Mets on August 24, Scherzer became the third pitcher in major league history to start a season 19–1, following Clemens in 2001 and Rube Marquard in 1912.
1946
On May 5, Scherzer struck out nine Houston Astros batters in eight innings of a 2–0 victory. It was his seventh straight game from the start of the season with at least seven strikeouts, establishing a Detroit Tigers franchise record. The streak ended on May 10 against the Minnesota Twins, when he struck out six batters in six innings. The Major League record for consecutive 7+ strikeout games to start the season is nine, accomplished by Bob Feller in 1946.
1962
On April 29, 2008, Scherzer made his MLB debut against the Houston Astros when he came on in relief and struck out the first batter he faced, Jack Cassel. He threw 4.mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}1⁄3 perfect innings while striking out seven. While doing so he set the record for the number of consecutive batters retired (13) for a pitcher making his MLB debut as a reliever. The previous record was 12 set in 1962 by the Los Angeles Dodgers' Pete Richert. The seven strikeouts were one short of the MLB record for most in a debut relief appearance. The Pittsburgh Pirates' Barry Jones had eight on April 20, 1986. On April 30, 2008, the Diamondbacks announced he would be placed into the starting rotation, due to his impressive debut. In his first appearance as a starter for the D-Backs, Scherzer allowed five runs (two earned) in four innings, while striking out five, taking the first loss of his major league career. He returned to the bullpen for much of the 2008 season. For the season, he was 0–4 with a 3.05 ERA in 16 games (seven starts) and struck out 66 batters in 56 innings.
1970
On October 3, Scherzer achieved his second career no-hitter, and second of the season, versus the Mets, striking out a new career-high 17 batters with no walks. The only base runners permitted were via a throwing error by Yunel Escobar. Several baseball analysts and pundits debated the game as one of the greatest pitching performances of all time, and perhaps the most dominant no-hitter ever pitched, based on the number of strikeouts, lack of walks issued or hit batters, and sheer mastery of the opposing batting order the third time through the lineup. At one point, Scherzer had struck out nine consecutive Mets, just one shy of the Major League record set by Tom Seaver in 1970. It tied Nolan Ryan for most strikeouts in a no-hitter, was the first no-hitter produced with at least 17 strikeouts and no walks, and made Scherzer the sixth pitcher in MLB history to record multiple no-hitters in one season. With a game score of 104, it was the second-highest achieved on record and made Scherzer the first to achieve multiple game scores of at least 100 in the same season. That game was singled out for the 2015 Esurance MLB Award for Best Performance.
July 27, 1984
Maxwell M. Scherzer (born July 27, 1984) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers. A right-handed starting pitcher, Scherzer is an eight-time MLB All-Star, has won three Cy Young Awards, has pitched two no-hitters, and won the World Series with the Nationals in 2019. Known for his intensity and competitiveness during play, he is nicknamed "Mad Max" after the fictional character of the same name.
1990
Six days later, Scherzer no-hit the Pirates 6–0 at Nationals Park for his first career no-hitter. After retiring the first 26 batters, he came to within one strike of a perfect game, only to hit the 27th batter, José Tábata, who appeared to lean into the pitch. Scherzer secured the no-hitter by retiring the next batter, Josh Harrison, on a fly ball. This was the 13th time that the 27th and presumably final batter disrupted a perfect game in progress. The game score was 97, the second occasion on the season where Scherzer had achieved a game score of at least 97. It was a feat previously accomplished just twice, first by Nolan Ryan in 1990 and then Pedro Martínez in 2000.
1991
On September 20, after a 12–5 win over the Chicago White Sox, Scherzer became the first major league pitcher to reach 20 wins. Scherzer became the second Tigers pitcher to reach 20 wins since Bill Gullickson in 1991, following Verlander in 2011, and the 45th in Tigers history. He finished the regular season at 21–3, with a league-leading 0.97 WHIP, 2.90 ERA, and a career-high 240 strikeouts. He was the only 20-game winner in the majors in 2013. Scherzer's stellar season earned him the 2013 AL Cy Young Award, receiving 28 of 30 first-place votes. He also was the winner of the Players Choice Award for AL Outstanding Pitcher, and the Baseball Digest Pitcher of the Year—bestowed annually to one pitcher in the major leagues.
2001
Before the 2018 season, Sports Illustrated graded Scherzer as the top pitcher, and fourth-best overall player in baseball, following Trout, José Altuve, and Kris Bryant. In his first 98 starts with the Nationals from 2015–17, Scherzer accumulated the most innings, strikeouts, and pitching WAR. He initiated a contest with at least five hitless innings 11 times, including successfully concluding two no-hitters. He made his third Opening Day start for Washington and struck out seven consecutive Cincinnati Reds batters on the way to a 2−0 win. His ten batters struck out overall set a club Opening Day record. While playing Atlanta on April 9, he stole his first career base in the seventh inning, versus pitcher Peter Moylan and catcher Kurt Suzuki. On the mound, Scherzer gained a complete game shutout, the fifth of his career. He struck out 10 and allowed two hits and no walks. He earned the NL Pitcher of the Month Award in April while leading the league in strikeouts (57) and wins (4), and ranking fourth in each of ERA (1.62), WHIP (0.82) and opposing batting average (.165). On May 6, Scherzer emerged as the first pitcher in major league history to produce 15 strikeouts in one game in 6+1⁄3 innings (19 outs) or fewer, doing so versus the Philadelphia Phillies. Twelve consecutive outs occurred vía strikeout, including striking out the side in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. It was the second-longest such streak in major league history, his fifth career 15-strikeout game, and the 69th with at least 10. He made his following start versus the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he struck out 11 batters and hit an RBI double for the go-ahead run in the fourth inning that furnished a 3–1 Nationals victory. In a May 19 start versus the Dodgers, Scherzer struck out 13, including dispatching his 100th of the season in 63 innings. It eclipsed Kerry Wood's record for fewest innings to reach 100 strikeouts with 65+2⁄3 realized in 2001. Still, the Nationals lost the game, 4–5, off a blown save by Sean Doolittle.
2004
Following his freshman year at the University of Missouri, in 2004, Scherzer made his debut with the La Crosse Loggers of the Northwoods League (NWL), a collegiate summer baseball league. He went 2–1 that summer with a 1.91 ERA with six saves. He also struck out 50 batters in only 33 innings pitched. He was named a mid-season All-Star.
2005
One of Scherzer's coaches at Missouri, Tony Vitello, was tasked with helping to recruit him, and eventually helped him to pitch with more balance and control and to stop leaping at hitters, which frequently caused him to miss up and in to right-handed batters. Ever energetic, in his early baseball career, Scherzer exerted so much effort in his windup that his "head whip" constantly caused his cap to fall off. He did not pitch the final 50 days of his freshman season, choosing instead to commit to working out and doing long toss, while gaining velocity in the process. Vitello and head coach Tim Jamieson trained him in a drill to balance on his back leg with more coordination and not to fall over his front foot. Scherzer modified it and worked constantly over the following winter, and returned his sophomore year to produce a 1.86 earned run average (ERA) and 131 strikeouts in 106 innings pitched over 16 games. In 2005, he won the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Award.
2006
In the 2011 season, Scherzer was the third starter in the rotation, and won six straight starts early in the year, being the first Tiger since Jeremy Bonderman in 2006 to accomplish this feat. Scherzer finished the season with a 15–9 record, and was third in the AL in home runs allowed (29), fourth in wild pitches, fifth in hits by pitch (10), ninth in winning percentage (.625), and tenth in wins.
2007
He began playing in the Diamondbacks organization in 2007 with the Single-A Visalia Oaks. He was promoted to Double-A Mobile BayBears after three impressive starts for the Oaks. During the 2008 offseason, he was named the fourth-best prospect in the Diamondbacks organization. After a good start to the 2008 season in Triple-A Tucson he was called up to the Diamondbacks on April 27, 2008.
2008
End of season awards for Scherzer included selection as a starting pitcher on Baseball America's All-MLB Team. Scherzer also won the 2017 National League Cy Young Award—his third —making him the tenth pitcher in history to win at least three. He was the Players Choice Award winner for National League Outstanding Pitcher, the second of his career. He was also elected to the Arizona Fall League Hall of Fame in late 2017, along with Mike Trout and David Wright, and had his number 51 jersey retired by the Scottsdale Scorpions. His AFL achievements included a 2.13 ERA in eight games in 2017 and a 3.38 ERA over four starts in 2008.
2008
The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Scherzer with the 11th overall pick of the 2006 amateur draft. He made his MLB debut with the Diamondbacks in 2008. In December 2009, Scherzer was traded to the Detroit Tigers. During his five-year tenure in Detroit, Scherzer made the American League All-Star Team twice and won the 2013 American League Cy Young Award. Scherzer also helped the Tigers win four consecutive American League Central titles from 2011 to 2014.
2009
During a May 2, 2021, contest versus the Marlins, Scherzer pitched his first complete game of the season, allowing one run – on a home run to Isan Díaz in the ninth inning – while striking out nine and allowing no bases on balls. On May 8, Scherzer faced the New York Yankees, striking out 14 over 7+1⁄3 innings, allowing two hits, one run and one walk. It was the 100th double-digit strikeout game of his career, making him just the fifth pitcher to reach the milestone, following Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martínez. The 14 strikeouts established a record by an opposing pitcher of the then-current iteration of Yankee Stadium, opened in 2009.
2009
Scherzer became a full-time starter in 2009, filling the fifth starter role in the starting rotation. He recorded his first major league victory in a 12–0 win over the Atlanta Braves on May 16, 2009. On May 26, Scherzer recorded the second win of his career. He finished the 2009 season with 30 starts, a 9–11 record, 4.12 ERA, and 174 strikeouts in 170+1⁄3 innings pitched.
December 09, 2009
On December 9, 2009, Arizona traded Scherzer along with Daniel Schlereth, Phil Coke, and Austin Jackson to the Detroit Tigers as part of a three-team agreement that sent Ian Kennedy and Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks and Curtis Granderson to the New York Yankees.
2010
In Detroit, Scherzer grew from a hard thrower with control issues into an ace, teaming with fellow right-hander and future Cy Young Award-winner Justin Verlander to front the Tigers' starting rotation for five seasons. A third-place finish in 2010 left them out of the playoffs, but was followed by four consecutive AL Central division championships. This run culminated in winning the 2012 American League (AL) pennant, only to fall to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.
June 08, 2010
Scherzer made his regular season debut for the Nationals as their Opening Day starting pitcher versus the New York Mets on April 6, 2015. He struck out eight over 7+2⁄3 innings in a 3–1 loss. On June 14, 2015, he pitched his second career complete game, ceding one hit and one walk in a 4–0 shutout against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. He accrued six perfect innings before Carlos Gómez, leading off the seventh inning, fought off a 96 miles per hour (154 km/h) fastball for a bloop single to right field inches past the outstretched glove of second baseman Anthony Rendon. Scherzer's 16 strikeouts established a new personal best and a Nationals team record for one game, surpassing Stephen Strasburg's effort of 14 versus the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 8, 2010. Rated with a game score of 100, Scherzer's was the 12th time in MLB history such a score or higher had been achieved.
2011
Having sustained a stress fracture in a knuckle of his right ring finger before the 2017 season, Scherzer was unavailable to start Opening Day for the Nationals. He navigated a delayed start to spring training and missed the World Baseball Classic. Nonetheless, he avoided spending any time on the disabled list to start the season. On May 14, 2017, he pitched his first career immaculate inning, striking out César Hernández, Odubel Herrera, and Aaron Altherr on nine pitches in the fourth inning versus Philadelphia. It was the 84th immaculate inning in the major leagues, and second in Nationals' history, following Zimmermann's versus the Florida Marlins in 2011. In a 2–1 win versus the Dodgers on June 6, Scherzer struck out 14. He obtained the first 10 outs of the game via strikeout in spite of his own throwing error on a pickoff attempt, two walks allowed, and a passed ball by Matt Wieters.
June 12, 2011
Scherzer has heterochromia iridum; his right eye is blue and his left eye is brown. On June 12, 2011, the Detroit Tigers distributed a bobblehead doll depicting Scherzer, with the condition correctly portrayed. In the spring of 2017, the Nationals unveiled a "delightfully creepy" crop of Scherzer's eyes, correctly portrayed as blue and brown, with backward and forward Ks edited into the pupils.
January 09, 2012
The Arizona Diamondbacks chose Scherzer in the first round and 11th overall in the 2006 MLB draft, making him Mizzou's first-ever MLB first-round draft pick. On January 9, 2012, it was announced that Scherzer would be one of six new inductees to the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame.
May 20, 2012
On May 20, 2012, Scherzer struck out 15 Pittsburgh Pirates in seven innings, falling one strikeout short of tying Lolich's franchise record. Scherzer surpassed the 200-strikeout mark for the first time, totaling 231 during the regular season to place second in the league to teammate Verlander with 239. Scherzer's strikeout rate per nine innings (11.1) both surged into the double-digit range and led the AL for the first time. He finished the regular season with other then-personal bests in wins and winning percentage (16–7, .696). In four seasons spanning 2009−12, Scherzer went 52−38, 3.94 ERA, 1.302 WHIP, averaging 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings and 191 strikeouts per season.
2013
The Scherzers are socially active. In 2013, they partnered with the Detroit Tigers Foundation on a program called Scherzer's Superstars, in which groups from the Metropolitan Detroit chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America were invited to Comerica Park every Tuesday home game to meet Scherzer and some of his Detroit teammates and go down to the field for batting practice. In 2015, after her husband signed with the Washington Nationals and inspired by the actions of his future teammate Sean Doolittle and Doolittle's future wife, activist and sports journalist Eireann Dolan, Erica May-Scherzer partnered with organizers of the Nationals' annual "Night Out" event for LGBT fans and led an effort by Nationals' spouses to promote the event. May-Scherzer is an ambassador for the Polaris Project, which aims to stop human trafficking; Scherzer started a fundraiser during the Nationals' 2016 season called Strike Out Modern Slavery in which the couple matched donations to Polaris for every strikeout Scherzer threw that season. Both Max and Erica are involved with the Humane Rescue Alliance, announcing after Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 that they would personally cover all pet adoption fees from the Washington, D.C.-based group's shelters for four days.
November 2013
Scherzer met his future wife, Erica May, at the University of Missouri, where they both were pitchers. May pitched for the Mizzou softball team before a heart condition forced her to stop playing. After more than eight years of dating, the couple married in November 2013, and have two daughters and a son. They welcomed Brooklyn, their first daughter, on November 29, 2017. On July 4, 2019, Kacey Hart Scherzer was born. Their third child, son Derek, was born on May 2, 2021; Scherzer pitched a full game before leaving for the hospital that afternoon. The family resides in McLean, a suburb of Washington, D.C., in Northern Virginia, but listed the home for sale in 2020. That same year, he purchased a home in Jupiter, Florida. The family owned four rescue dogs and two cats as of 2017 .
January 17, 2014
On January 17, 2014, Scherzer and the Tigers agreed on a $15.525 million salary for the 2014 season, avoiding arbitration for the third straight year.
2015
Before the 2015 season, Scherzer agreed to a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Nationals. At the time of its signing, the contract was one of the largest in sports history. In 2015, Scherzer became the sixth pitcher in Major League history to record multiple no-hitters in a single season. On May 11, 2016, he tied the major league nine-inning single-game strikeout record with 20, making him the second player to achieve both a no-hitter and 20 strikeouts over nine innings; in the same game, he became the youngest-ever pitcher to have defeated all 30 MLB teams during his career. Scherzer won the NL Cy Young Award in 2016 and 2017 and made the National League All-Star Team five times with the Nationals. In the 2019 World Series, Scherzer earned a win in Game One and also started the deciding Game Seven, which the Nationals also won (Scherzer received a no-decision). The 2019 World Series championship was the first in the history of the Nationals franchise.
2015
On January 21, 2015, Scherzer agreed to a contract with the Washington Nationals, now led by Rizzo as general manager. The contract was for seven years and $210 million ($229.3 million today), and included a $50 million signing bonus to be paid out over 14 years, the largest deferral in MLB history. At the time, Scherzer owned a 91–50 W–L with a 3.58 ERA in seven seasons with Arizona and Detroit. On January 22, it was reported that the contract also specified for Scherzer's salary to be $10 million in 2015, and $15 million in each of the next three seasons. It then increases to $35 million a year in 2019, 2020 and 2021, the seasons in which his deferrals begin. In addition, his contract includes several award incentives, as well as a no-trade clause.
2016
On June 18, Scherzer suffered a broken nose after a ball struck him in the face while bunting in batting practice. Nevertheless, he made his scheduled start the next day against the Philadelphia Phillies. With discoloration near his right eye, he threw 117 pitches and struck out 10 Phillies hitters over seven scoreless innings as the Nationals won 2–0. In a start on June 30, he faced his former team, the Detroit Tigers. It was the first time he pitched against Detroit at Comerica Park since joining the Nationals, and first since the 20 strikeout game in 2016. This time, he struck out 14 while allowing four hits over eight innings in a 2–1 win for his 90th career double-digit strikeout game.
May 11, 2016
On May 11, 2016, Scherzer struck out 20 Detroit Tiger batters, his former team, to tie the record for strikeouts over nine innings in a single game, held by Roger Clemens (twice), Randy Johnson, and Kerry Wood. Scherzer became the first pitcher to strike out 20 batters in a regulation game in the 21st century. He accomplished the feat and earned the win in a matchup with former Nationals teammate Jordan Zimmermann; the final score was 3–2. Scherzer joined Johnson as the only pitchers to have performed both a 20 strikeout game and a no-hitter during their careers. Nine of the strikeouts ended on three-pitch at-bats. Of 119 total pitches discharged, 96 were for strikes; Scherzer did not deliver more than 16 in any inning. It was the first time in history that in any game of 125 or fewer pitches delivered, 96 or more were strikes. It was the third occasion that Tiger manager Brad Ausmus was on the losing side of a 20-strikeout game; the first two were as a player. It was also Scherzer's first career victory versus Detroit, positing him as the 17th hurler to earn a win against all 30 MLB teams.
July 08, 2016
On July 8, 2016, Scherzer was named to the National League squad at the All-Star Game in San Diego as roster replacement for teammate Stephen Strasburg, who was recently activated from the DL. Scherzer performed in relief in the sixth inning, allowing no baserunners. His aggregate season batting achievements included a career-best 12 RBI, which ranked second among major league pitchers to Adam Wainwright with 18.
November 16, 2016
Scherzer was named the National League Cy Young Award winner on November 16, 2016, winning his second Cy Young Award on the strength of a 20–7 record, 2.96 ERA, MLB-leading 284 strikeouts, and an MLB-leading 0.968 WHIP. He became just the sixth pitcher in Major League Baseball history to win the award in both the American and the National Leagues. He won two of the 2016 Esurance MLB/This Year in Baseball Awards: for Best Pitcher, and his 20-strikeout game was singled out for Best Performance.
2017
Scherzer is the fifth pitcher to start an All-Star Game for both the American and National Leagues. He is a four-time wins leader and a winner of three strikeout titles. One of the most consistent hurlers of his era, he made at least 30 starts each season from 2009 to 2018 and struck out at least 230 batters in each season from 2012 to 2019. In 2017, he became the third-fastest hurler to record 2,000 career strikeouts and the fourth to strike out 250 or more in four consecutive seasons. Scherzer recorded more wins (161) and strikeouts (2,452) than any pitcher in the 2010s. He logged his 3,000th strikeout on September 12, 2021.
January 2017
Scherzer was going to play for Team USA in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. However, in early January 2017 it was reported that he would not play in the tournament after suffering a stress fracture in the knuckle of his right ring finger. He was replaced by teammate Tanner Roark.
2018
In a span of four following starts, Scherzer lost three times as the Nationals' offense was shut out each time. He lost another outing, 4−3, to the Boston Red Sox on July 2 while collecting his 1,000th strikeout since joining Washington. That vested him as the 11th pitcher in major league history to reach 1,000 strikeouts with two different clubs. He was selected as the NL starting pitcher in the All-Star Game, played at Nationals Park, for his third starting assignment. After allowing a home run to Aaron Judge, Scherzer became the third All-Star Game starter within the previous 30 years to strike out at least four batters. He procured his 200th regular season strikeout in 2018 on July 27 versus the Marlins, retiring Justin Bour with a swinging strikeout, to gridlock with Walter Johnson and Roger Clemens with seven consecutive seasons of 200 or more strikeouts. The three trailed Seaver as the all-time leader with nine consecutive seasons.
August 06, 2018
Scherzer has been nicknamed "Mad Max" due in part to a perceived higher-than-normal intensity during gameplay, and unusual and extensive preparation techniques. He also prepares intently on other aspects of the game, including hitting and baserunning. According to Nationals manager Dave Martinez, Scherzer differentiated himself from other major league pitchers because of his focus on hitting in addition to the work on his pitching. As of August 6, 2018, his batting average as a pitcher (.283) on the season was second-best at his position in the National League to Germán Márquez (.350).
July 30, 2021
On July 30, 2021—the day of the MLB trade deadline—with the Nationals under .500 and Scherzer in the final year of his contract, Scherzer was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers along with Trea Turner in exchange for Josiah Gray, Keibert Ruiz, Donovan Casey, and Gerardo Carrillo. Scherzer made his Dodgers debut on August 4 in Los Angeles against the Houston Astros, pitching seven innings and giving up two runs and striking out 10 batters, and earned the win.
