Max Scherzer Continues To Get Better With Age

WASHINGTON—Just because a pitcher does not reach his full potential by his mid-20s does not mean he never will.

In the age of instant gratification and prospects moving faster than ever, it’s easy to forget that.

Luckily, Max Scherzer is around to remind us.

Scherzer pitched brilliantly yet again Friday evening, going 8.2 innings with three hits and one run allowed and 13 strikeouts to lead the Nationals to a 5-1 win over the Padres.

The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner was in prime form most of the night. He threw 81 strikes and just 27 balls. His fastball velocity held firm at 94 mph into the ninth. His slider was sweeping, his changeup was diving, and his curveball was dropping.

The end result was Scherzer’s season-high in strikeouts and his 53rd career game with double-digit strikeouts, tied for most among active pitchers with Clayton Kershaw.

“Every single night you go out there with Max out there, something special might happen,” said Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, who launched a two-run homer 407 feet into the third deck in right field to support Scherzer. “Tonight he threw the ball great. It looked like Max.”

Scherzer has always had the pedigree. He pitched on the USA Collegiate National Team and was a first-round pick, No. 11 overall, in 2006 out of Missouri. He reached the majors after just 143.2 minor league innings.

But while a solid starter, Scherzer was not the ace we know him as today for some time. He didn’t post an ERA under 3.50 or throw 200 innings until his age-28 season, his sixth in the majors.

In fact, things were rough enough he was demoted to Triple-A at one point during his third season.

For Scherzer, the development that unlocked his full potential didn’t come until years after he made his big league debut.

“Really the biggest thing was in 2012 I really solidified and made my slider consistent,” Scherzer said. “Once I had a consistent slider I was able to add a curveball. As a low arm slot guy you never think you can throw a curveball, I never thought I could throw a curveball, but I demonstrated that if I kind of slowed my slider down a little bit I could actually get over it and actually throw a curveball. And so that’s what really allowed me to pitch with three pitches to righthanded hitters and three pitches to lefthanded hitters. That was moment that I needed to where I could start sequencing guys differently multiple times through the lineup and pitch deep into ballgames. It’s just kind of kept evolving now to where I can kind of morph my slider into a power slider against lefties, so I’m really pitching with four pitches to both lefthanded and righthanded hitters.”

The difference is startling. In the five seasons from 2008-12, his age 23-27 seasons, Scherzer had a 3.88 ERA and 1.297 WHIP and averaged 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

In the five seasons from 2013-17, his age 28-32 seasons, Scherzer has a 2.93 ERA and 1.002 WHIP with 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

In that latter time frame, of course, Scherzer has won the Cy Young Award in both leagues, pitched two no-hitters in the same season, recorded a 20-strikeout game and asserted himself as the best righthanded pitcher in the game.

“I’ve never seen a guy be that locked in all the time,” said closer Koda Glover, who relieved Scherzer with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth and recorded his fourth save. “He’s constantly on it.”

Scherzer’s latest outing was his best and longest of the 2017 season, and he did it all with a blister on his right middle finger.

It was yet another marquee performance from Scherzer, and another data point to show that the best pitchers in the game sometimes don’t get there right away.

“I always knew if you can throw offspeed it allows you to sequence guys and really change things up. It was just when I was a rookie I didn’t have great command of my slider,” Scherzer said. “It took a few years for me to solidify myself mechanically, know what was going on at the plate, really figure myself out. Once I solidified my slider, it allowed me to add pitches.

“That’s what you have to do as a pitcher as you keep going deeper into this game. You have to keep evolving. You’ve got to keep coming up with new ways to get guys out. These guys are really good and there’s so much data on you and they will find every pattern and they will blast you. So if you’re not working to make yourself better, you’re actually getting worse.”

Clearly, that isn’t the case with Scherzer. As the years go by, he just keeps getting better and better.