Max Scherzer just completed the best month of his major league career — at the age of 34.
He is throwing his fastball harder than ever and is headed to the All-Star Game for the fifth time in as many years with the Washington Nationals. While other pitchers are winding down their careers, the right-hander has stepped up his game as he makes a beeline for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
His secrets for success may sound simple, but Scherzer’s dedication to putting a baseball exactly where a hitter can’t touch it is far from ordinary.
“Keep training hard, keeping cleaning up my mechanics,” Scherzer said. “I continue to find ways to drive through the baseball.”
Last month, the Nationals ace went 6-0 with 1.00 ERA in six starts, with an amazing 68 strikeouts and just five walks. He gave up only 25 hits in 45 innings and became just one of four pitchers since 1920 to have an ERA of 1.00 or lower with at least 68 strikeouts in a month. He joins Randy Johnson in 1997, Roger Clemens in 1998 and Pedro Martinez in 1999.
Scherzer said the impetus for a watershed June began in late May, even as the Nationals were losing some of the games he started due to poor defense and the like.
“I have locked in on my mechanics,” he said. “I was really able to sharpen up all of the off-speed pitches that I throw.”
On Monday, he was named the National League player of the week after he went 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in two starts, beating the Miami Marlins and Detroit Tigers. Then on Wednesday, he was named National League pitcher of the month for June.
“He’s a tremendous competitor, has excellent pitchability and outstanding flexibility which helps him hold his delivery,” a veteran American League scout said.
Nationals second baseman Brian Dozier continues to be impressed by Scherzer. Dozier was a teammate last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw.
“Guys like that don’t come around too often,” Dozier said. “He works his butt off day in and day out. He is super competitive. They don’t make them like that very often. No one is going to out-prepare him. When you put all of that together you have a Max Scherzer.”
Scherzer is 8-5 with 2.43 ERA in 18 starts and has struck out a league-high 170 batters with just 22 walks in 1221/3 innings. He is throwing his four-seam fastball at an average of 94.9 mph this season.
“It’s amazing,” Nationals All-Star third baseman Anthony Rendon said. “He might go down as one of the best pitchers to ever play this game. It’s definitely boring at times because it looks like he just strikes everybody out. But it’s definitely amazing to watch.”
Scherzer was named to his seventh All-Star Game appearance for Tuesday’s exhibition in Cleveland.
“This one means just as much because of hard it is to make an All-Star team,” he said.
Scherzer threw two no-hitters for Washington in 2015 and has won the Cy Young Award three times. The St. Louis native has won the weekly honor five times, with the last time being April 15, 2018. Scherzer started the 2018 All-Star Game at Nationals Park.
“The work that he puts in daily, as you can see, it pays off for him every fifth day, so I’m just glad I’m on his side and not watching from the other side,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said after Scherzer fanned 14 on Sunday in Detroit. “Because when he pitches, it’s really, really tremendous.”
The player of the week and All-Star honors were tempered by the death Monday of 27-year-old Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs.
Scherzer and Skaggs were never teammates but both began their major league careers with Arizona. Scherzer played for the Diamondbacks in 2008-09 and Skaggs was there in 2012-13.
“Your heart drops any time you hear a player pass,” Scherzer said. “Your heart goes out to everyone involved. You just realize how lucky we are to play baseball for a living.”
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