The Los Angeles Dodgers roster featured two players who are locks to enter the Hall of Fame in Clayton Kershaw and Albert Pujols, plus another who is on the path to that as well in Mookie Betts.
Then, the Dodgers acquired Max Scherzer from the Washington Nationals at the trade deadline, and he gave the team yet another player who will end up in Cooperstown one day.
As two of the best pitchers in MLB history, Kershaw and Scherzer on the same staff was something special. And although they’ve both already accomplished almost everything possible, Scherzer viewed it as an opportunity for both to continue improving.
“Obviously what he’s done in his career, it’s remarkable. We came from the same Draft class, and everything he’s accomplished has been great,” Scherzer recently said. “It’s been great to compete against him.
“You push yourself to try to match what he can do. So the fact that we can now be on the same team and compete for the same prize, I’m sure as this keeps going along, we’ll be able to share more tips and tricks of how we think, and recognize different situations of how we both have evolved over the years.”
Because of Kershaw’s injury, Scherzer was not able to see him pitch until the left-hander was activated on Sept. 13, nearly six weeks after the trade.
“I’ve been dying to see it,” Scherzer said before Kershaw’s first start off the 60-day injured list.
“I’ve faced him for so many years and competed against him, this is a great thing. I’ve always wanted to be on his team, watch him go out and compete, and watch him go do his thing, see how he goes about his business. I’m really excited to watch him.
“He’s the first one here and getting after it every single day. There’s no corners cut. That was expected. I’ve seen him work out before. He definitely gets after it morning, noon and night. It’s just fun to be in the weight room and see him going, be a part of this rotation and go out and do his thing.
“The days in between starts, that’s the grind and fun time and what it takes to go out there and be consistent, be able to go out there and make every single post, because it takes hard work between every single start to do that.”
While Kershaw and Scherzer enjoyed their time together this season, now both are free agents and the likelihood of remaining teammates isn’t considered high.
Scherzer received a hug from Pujols
When Scherzer first entered the Dodgers clubhouse, he was able to experience a hug from Pujols, which became popular among the other players throughout the season.
“That was kind of cool coming in, being able to give Albert Pujols a hug. You can say that about a bunch of other guys as well. This is an extremely talented group,” Scherzer said.
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