Max Scherzer was named the National League Outstanding Pitcher in the 2021 Players Choice Awards. The impending Los Angeles Dodgers free agent received the honor over Corbin Burnes of the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Philadelphia Phillies’ Zack Wheeler.
However, Scherzer fell short as a finalist for Marvin Miller Man of the Year, which went to Marcus Semien of the Toronto Blue Jays. St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Andrew Miller was also a finalist for the award that goes to the player “whose leadership most inspires others to higher levels of achievement.”
This marks a third time in Scherzer’s career that MLB players have voted him the winner of an Outstanding Pitcher Award. He previously took home the honor in the American League in 2013 and NL in 2017.
Including time spent with the Washington Nationals, Scherzer went 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 11.84 strikeouts per nine innings and .185 opponents’ batting average. Scherzer led the Majors in WHIP and batting average against, and was second in the NL in ERA and strikeouts per nine.
After being traded from the Nationals to the Dodgers, he went on a historic run and finished 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA over 11 starts.
During that span, Scherzer earned NL Player of the Week honors for Sept. 6-12 by going 2-0 with just one earned run allowed and 22 strikeouts in 16 innings. Scherzer also picked up his 3,000th career strikeout and became the second-fastest pitcher in history to reach the milestone.
Scherzer is a candidate to win a fourth career Cy Young Award. Finalists will be announced Nov. 8, with Cy Young winners revealed Nov. 17.
Will Dodgers re-sign Scherzer?
Although the year ended with Scherzer unable to bounce back from right arm fatigue, he figures to be in line for a lucrative offseason as the top pitcher reaching free agency.
The Dodgers presumably will have interest in re-signing the future Hall of Famer, though their ability — or willingness — to do such may hinge on the future of Trevor Bauer and potentially still needing to pay at least a portion of his remaining contract.
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