Max Scherzer has started 18 postseason games in his career, and it appears the future Hall-of-Famer will get at least one more for his legacy. Scherzer is lined up to start a potential Game 163 or Wild Card Game, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are set on him for either scenario.
“No, there’s no doubt in my mind,” manager Dave Roberts said of the possibility. “I think he’s the best pitcher in baseball.”
Scherzer previously started the 2019 Wild Card game in a 4-3 win for the Washington Nationals. He struggled in that outing, but he kept his team in the game, giving them five innings while allowing three runs.
Since joining the Dodgers, the 37-year-old has been on another level, which included a historic feat of posting the lowest ERA ever through a pitcher’s first eight starts with a new team at 0.88.
Scherzer’s performance for L.A. also netted him the NL Player of the Week honors for Sept. 6-12, after he went 2-0 with just one unearned run allowed, 22 strikeouts over 16 innings pitched and held opponents to a .127 batting line.
Entering play Thursday in Colorado, he had made nine starts with the Dodgers and in that time led baseball with a 0.78 ERA, 1.35 FIP, 2.9 WAR, and 33.3% strikeout to walk ratio.
Scherzer finally had the first blemish to his line while pitching at Coors Field when he allowed five earned runs in five innings, which raised his ERA with the L.A. to 1.43.
Scherzer hopes to see Kershaw’s 3,00th strikeout
Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw, who currently has 2,658 career strikeouts, are both scheduled to become free agents after the season. That of course makes it a possibility that one or both of them are wearing a different uniform next season.
However, there is a strong chance Kershaw returns to the Dodgers as he is one of the franchise’s all-time greats, and it sounds like Scherzer wants to continue pitching with Kershaw.
“Hopefully I’m here to be able to watch his 3,000th as well,” Scherzer recently said. “Obviously with what he’s done in his career, he should be able to reach that milestone, and it would be a special one for him as well.”
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