Washington Nationals’ ace starting pitcher Max Scherzer has definitely shown why he was given that massive seven year 210 million dollar contract this past offseason. He’s somehow managed to fly under the radar this season and I’m not sure if it’s because of the Nationals underwhelming 33-30 record, the MVP caliber start that right fielder Bryce Harper has gotten off to, or because his record is just 7-5. Maybe people just expected this from the 30 year old right hander. No matter what the reason is, I’ve never seen a big time, max contract player manage to fly under the radar like this.
Time to give him his credit.
Even though it was the 24-40 Brewers, Scherzer was as close to unhittable as a pitcher can be last night in Milwaukee. He threw a complete game, gave up just one hit, walked one, and struck out 16 in the Nationals’ 4-0 victory. I can’t even begin to explain how impressive it is to pitch a complete game while striking out as many as 16 hitters in today’s game. Striking out a ton of hitters usually means that you’re throwing a lot of pitches, which most of the time, leads to shortened outings. Scherzer had a perfect game going until a broken bat hit by center fielder Carlos Gomez broke it up. He gave up one more base runner on a walk to second baseman Scooter Gennett later on in the game but that was it. He was still throwing 96 miles per hour in the eighth inning which is impressive on it’s own.
There have been many no hitters thrown in recent memory, but that was probably one of the most dominant outings I’ve seen in a long time. Bryce Harper was out after being hit by a pitch on the knee the day before and they aren’t sure when he’s going to return to the lineup, so the ace once again stepped up to the plate. He currently holds a record of 7-5, but his earned run average is now at a microscopic 1.93. If he had gotten some offensive production, he may be at double digits in wins to this point in the season.
So yeah, I think Max Scherzer has earned his money thus far.
