No perfect game, but Max Scherzer has been pretty perfect for the Nationals
The world of sports learned on Saturday that this Max Scherzer guy can play a little baseball. He was a hit-batsman away from a perfect game, no-hitting the Pirates in a 10-strikeout performance on Saturday afternoon. The “worth every penny” jokes (in reference to Scherzer’s $210-million contract) have been aplenty in the last few hours, but it didn’t take Saturday’s performance, or even his past two performances (he’s one of just three pitchers ever to throw a no-hitter and one-hitter in back-to-back starts) to earn his worth in Washington thus far.
Scherzer used to make his name on wins. He combined for 39 of them over his final two seasons with the Detroit Tigers, leading all of baseball. He also has won 15 or more games in each of the last four seasons despite solid but not overwhelming numbers in 2011 and 2012. It led some (myself included) to question just how much of an improvement the former Cy Young Award winner would be over a Tanner Roark or Doug Fister in the Nationals’ rotation. But he’s not only been better than both of them, he’s been the best pitcher in baseball this season.
In 14 starts this year, Scherzer leads the majors in innings (102.1), ERA (1.76), strikeouts (123), and WHIP (0.80), and also sits third amongst pitchers in WAR (3.7). In those starts, he’s given up more than two runs just three times, and has yet to go less than six innings in a start. Scherzer’s chocolate sauce-covered face would be next to the word “consistency” in this year’s edition of the baseball dictionary. He’s been dominant and it’s been dominant often.
For what it’s worth, Scherzer also has more hits in his last two starts (two) than the opposition (one). He’s that good. Oh, and he has a five-game hitting streak going.
For the ups and downs that Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann and the rest of the Nationals rotation have had, Scherzer has been the one rock the team has leaned one for night-in and night-out production. He’s kept a team that makes its living off inconsistency on the right track on the mound, and has his club tied for first place in the National League East.
What Scherzer has accomplished in just a fraction of a season with his new club is reinventing his image. He’s gone from good pitcher on great team to dominant pitcher on good team, and while it may forever be a laughable notion to suggest that anyone who throws a little ball of cowhide for a living is worth $210-million, at this point, Scherzer has been worth every penny.