When the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Max Scherzer at the MLB trade deadline last year, it was with an eye on bolstering an injury-depleted rotation in the midst of a tight National League West race.
The trade immediately paid off for L.A. as the future Hall of Famer went on a historic stretch that kept them on the heels of the San Francisco Giants. While the Dodgers ultimately fell short of winning a ninth consecutive division title, they went on to eliminate their rival in the NL Division Series.
Scherzer closed out the Giants in the winner-take-all Game 5 on just two days’ rest, which had a ripple effect on his availability for the remainder of the postseason.
The right-hander was unable to make a scheduled start in the opener of the NL Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves and threw only 4.1 innings the following day due to arm fatigue. He was slated to start Game 6 but still hadn’t recovered and got scratched.
Scherzer taking on a heavier workload paid off during the Washington Nationals’ World Series run in 2019 but didn’t pan out with the Dodgers. He recently reflected on his workhorse approach and revealed he has no regrets with how things played out, per Jorge Castillo of the L.A. Times:
“I still would’ve gone back and had the same conversations with Dave. Going back I don’t have regrets saying, ‘Hey, let’s do the 2019 playoff run.’ Because the 2019 playoff run worked for the Nationals and we were able to get a World Series ring out of it and that’s what we were playing for with the Dodgers as well.”
During his introductory press conference with the New York Mets, Scherzer intimated his dead arm stemmed from the Dodgers’ efforts to monitor his workload.
However, he has since clarified that he never intended to blame the organization.
Scherzer reiterated expectation to start for Dodgers in potential NLCS Game 7
Despite being plagued by lingering arm trouble, Scherzer maintained confidence he would be able to start in a potential winner-take-all Game 7 against the Braves.
The 37-year-old reiterated that stance in a recent interview, believing the extra day of rest would have lowered the odds of him sustaining a substantial injury.
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