Washington Nationals: Max Scherzer is a National Treasure

Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer is a National Treasure.  Last night’s game proved that he is the best pitcher in Baseball.

In case you didn’t hear, Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer fell victim to a broken nose doing one of the dumbest things you can do in baseball the day before his start.  Scherzer wore one to the face during bunting practice, breaking his nose and getting a black eye that looks like he was in a bar brawl.  As someone who once had their tooth knocked out bunting, this brought back all kinds of painful memories.

Most mortal men would have taken the day off, missed a start, or just take it easy.  Max Scherzer is not mortal however and he went 7 strong innings, didn’t give up a run, and struck out 10 Phillies.  A typical dominant outing by Mad Max, this time with a broken nose.

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Folks, Max Scherzer has been one of the most dominant pitcher in baseball for a long time.  You can look up the stats for yourself but there are starts that embody who somebody is and dammit watching Max dominate with a broken nose was something special.

The Nats had listed the game 2 starter as TBD but there shouldn’t have been any doubt that Max was going to trudge up the hill and dominate.  His gutsy start will likely draw similarities to Curt Schilling pitching with a bloody sock in the 2004 ALCS.  There is a distinct difference from that game to this one.  This was another mid-week game against the Phillies in June for a fourth-place Washington Nationals team.  Scherzer came out locked in and firing on all cylinders like it was Game 7 of the World Series.

Hitter after hitter, Scherzer went about his business striking out hitters, inducing weak contact, and working out of jams.  He even had two competitive ABs that included a sharp line out to old friend Bryce Harper in RF.  Check out his reaction on K number 10 of the evening.

Guy is an absolute animal on the mound.  Theres taking control of a game, then there’s this.  I can’t imagine the despair of the Phillies knowing they didn’t even do anything to piss off Scherzer and he came at them like THEY caused his black eye.

For the kids out there looking for a big leaguer to model their game after, take Max Scherzer’s mentality and competitive fire and you will be at 95% of your opponents just being psycho and refusing to give in.  This isn’t an isolated thing for Max either, consider the following.

There’s a zero percent chance I would want to face him even if I had any semblance of MLB skill.  Dude is just wired differently.

Watch out for the Washington Nationals moving forward.  They just took two from the Phillies today and Mad Max’s performance is the legendary type that will fire up every guy in the dugout and front office.  IT will literally force every one to raise their game from preparation to outing through injury, struggle, etc.

Every 5 days, a future Hall of Famer with an incredible passion for competing trots out to the mound for the Nats.  If you live in/near DC, go see him at Nats Park and you can feel the intensity.  If you’re fortunate enough to live somewhere else, go see him when he comes to a park near you or tune in to MLB.TV.

Max Scherzer is something special feels like an understatement.  He has an unmatched competitive fire and he’s just flat-out dominant on the mound.  Watching him mow down the Phillies with a black eye only reinforces it.  Mad Max is coming for you and theirs nothing you can do about it.

Good luck MLB, you’re gonna need it.