WASHINGTON – There was an unofficial eighth day of the week in the Washington, DC area that fell every five games during baseball season. It was known as “Scherzday” when the sports world turned its attention to the hill in Nationals Park to watch Max Scherzer, a Hall of Fame caliber, unfold his pitching magic.
“I think I speak for the Nationals fans everywhere when I say it was the ultimate privilege to watch him give everything he got on the hill every fifth day and assert everything and everyone for ours Team to victory, ”Washington chief executive officer Mark D. Lerner said in a statement.
The 37-year-old right-hander stunned parts of seven seasons while he performed – and perfected – his craft in a Nationals uniform. The chapter, which began on January 21, 2015 as a massive seven-year signing of $ 210 million for free agents, ended just months before the deal expired.
On Friday, as part of a massive overhaul, the Nats swapped Scherzer and shortstop Trea Turner to the Dodgers for four prospectuses, including Los Angeles’ top prospect, catcher Keibert Ruiz. Scherzer was considered the top target at the trade deadline and shone with an 8-4 record and 2.76 ERA over 19 starts this season.
“It was everything in between [starts] that you loved him, “said an emotional manager Dave Martinez, who sat with Scherzer thinking about the days leading up to the deadline.” The way he worked hard, the way he competed every day, the conversations in the clubhouse, the kind of jokes and jokes that we often had together. I’ll miss that. “
Scherzer leaves an indelible footprint in the history of the Nationals. He went 92-47 with a 2.80 ERA over 1,229 innings in 189 starts while wearing the curly W. Scherzer goes well beyond his place in team history (2005-present), taking first place in WHIP (0.96), strikeouts per nine innings (11.8.). ) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.8), second in ERA, third in strikeouts (1,610) and fourth in victories in franchise history (Montreal / Washington).
During his tenure with the Nats, Scherzer garnered awards including two consecutive National League Cy Young Awards (2016-17), six All-Star Nicks, the 17 MLB Players Choice Most Outstanding Pitcher awards, and a 19 All-MLB First Team selection . Oh, and he has a ’19 World Series championship ring to show for it.
“I’ve said many times that he’s the greatest competitor I’ve ever seen,” said Lerner. “From the two no-hitters to the 20 strikeout game to the 7th game of the World Series, Max has rightly secured his place among the all-time greats in DC sports and Major League Baseball history, and it’s going to be one Be honored to see one day he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. “
As Scherzer embarks on the latest phase of his career with the Dodgers, take a look back at some of the memorable moments that highlight his legacy with the Nationals:
Scherzer made 2015, his first year with the Nats, the no-hitter season. On June 20, he threw a 10-strikeout no-hitter against the Pirates at Nationals Park, one hit away from a perfect game. Less than four months later, Scherzer made his final start to the season by failing to hit the Mets on October 3rd at Citi Field. He fanned out a staggering 17 batters, tying Nolan Ryan’s MLB record for most strikeouts in a no-hitter.
Scherzer joined the elite squad of Ryan, Johnny Vander Meer (1938), Allie Reynolds (’51), Virgil Trucks (’52) and Roy Halladay (2010) as the sixth pitcher in MLB history to win a pair of no-hitters Throw game the same season. He was the first to do this without issuing a walk and accomplishing the feat against two playoff opponents.
“You go out there and achieve as much as you can,” said Scherzer at the time. “When you start talking about this stuff, you have no words for it.”
Scherzer made it easy to hit double-digit numbers on strikeouts. In one of his most notable feats, he recorded 20 strikeouts against the Tigers, his former team, on May 11, 2016. He joined Randy Johnson as the only pitcher to reach both a no-hitter and a 20-strikeout game.
“Tonight, at the end of the night, was a special night,” said Scherzer at the time. “Because I mean, the strikeouts are sexy. And being able to knock 20 out – that’s sexy.”
He reached the elite mark of the 300 strikeout singles season in 2018 and passed the milestone of 2,500 strikeouts in 19. Scherzer is in fifth place of all time in games with 10+ strikeouts and this season surpassed the legend Cy Young in 19th place on the all-time strikeout list.
Scherzer had already won the AL Cy Young Award as an ace in Detroit in 2013. By the end of his third season in Washington, he had jailed consecutive awards in ’16 (20-7, 2.96 ERA) and ’17 (16-6, 2.51 ERA).
“When you start talking about a three-time victory, I can’t understand it at the time,” said Scherzer at the time. “I mean, it’s such an incredible feeling, an incredible moment, that you won’t really come to terms with it until about a year later.”
No stage is too big for Scherzer. He was 3-0 with a 2.40 ERA in six games (five starts) in the Nationals’ 2019 World Series. When the nats needed him in an emergency, he delivered. Scherzer threw a goalless inning (three strikeouts) from the bullpen in Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Dodgers. Then he fanned out seven over as many innings as the game 4 starter to parry off elimination.
Scherzer bravely started the decisive game 7 of the World Series against the Astros and threw five innings despite neck pain. He led his team to a 6-0 mark in his postseason appearances while keeping his opponents to a batting average of 0.193.
“Man,” said Scherzer at the time. “What a feeling.”
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