In their quest to repeat as World Series champions and stave off the San Diego Padres and chase down the San Francisco Giants, the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a blockbuster trade at the 2021 deadline to acquire Max Scherzer and Trea Turner.
Scherzer became a needed ace for the injury-depleted Dodgers starting rotation, and Turner switched positions to form a remarkable middle infield alongside fellow All-Star Corey Seager.
Scherzer and Turner became key contributors for the Dodgers before ultimately departing in free agency. Scherzer signed a record-setting contract with the New York Mets that offseason, and Turner joined the Philadelphia Phillies after the 2022 season.
With Scherzer making his return to Dodger Stadium this week, he reflected fondly on spending a portion of the 2021 season with the Dodgers in an interview with David Vassegh of AM 570 L.A. Sports
“Overall, I had fun. Like, I had a lot of fun. With that team that we had, that team was built to win the World Series. That was the goal when Trea and I came over. So to come up short of that, leaves a little sour taste in your mouth. But this is baseball. Anything can happen. So when you say, how do I reflect in my overall time? I had some great memories here.
“The first game, going against the Astros when the Astros were here for the first time, that’s the craziest regular season game I’ve ever pitched. And an ovation, so that was unbelievable. The 3,000 Ks, that was an unbelievable moment. And really getting a taste of the rivalry between the Dodgers and Giants, and go in Game 5 to close out that game, that was an unbelievable moment in my career.
“As much as we can reflect upon the ’21 season as we didn’t accomplish all we wanted, there’s still some really good moments from that season that I’ll always remember.”
Scherzer went 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA, 1.96 FIP and 0.82 WHIP in 11 regular season starts after being traded to the Dodgers. He struggled in the NL Wild Card Game but bounce back with a strong effort against the Giants in the NLDS, albeit taking a tough-luck loss.
As Scherzer alluded to, he then memorably was called on for the save in Game 5 to eliminate the Giants. However, that had a lingering effect as Scherzer appeared limited in his NL Championship Series start and then could not take the ball in Game 6.
Max Scherzer clarified Dodgers comments
The three-time Cy Young Award not being able to start when the Dodgers faced elimination in NLCS was a point of contention, and Scherzer initially put blame on the Dodgers because of their efforts to monitor his workload.
However, Scherzer followed that by explaining it was not his intention to say the Dodgers were responsible for his right arm being “overcooked.”
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