Max Scherzer’s latest accomplishment proves he’s on Hall of Fame path
Max Scherzer’s dominant pitching career has earned him plenty of hardware. Now though, the three-time Cy Young Award winner is starting to pile up some pretty impressive milestones as well.
Milestones that are paving his way to the sport’s biggest accolade — a trip to Cooperstown for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Scherzer’s latest accomplishment may have moved his trek into the fastlane. With his sixth-inning strikeout of the San Diego Padres’ Manuel Margot on Friday night, Scherzer became just the 35th pitcher in MLB history to reach 2,500 career strikeouts.
Even more impressive, he reached that number faster than every pitcher in MLB history save for two.
.@Max_Scherzer is the 3rd fastest pitcher to reach 2,500 Ks.
How many will he finish his career with? pic.twitter.com/jie0XbZH06— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) April 27, 2019
Those two — Randy Johnson and Nolan Ryan — just happen to be the two most prolific strikeout pitchers in MLB history. Ryan’s 5,714 career strikeouts rank No. 1 all-time. Johnson’s 4,875 are second.
And yes, both are also Hall of Famers.
Keeping Hall of Fame company
The names Scherzer’s career is associated with become more impressive with each new season. And the truth is, his résumé stacked up pretty well even before his latest milestone.
Scherzer is one of only five pitchers in MLB history to win a Cy Young in both leagues — Tigers in 2013, Nationals in 2016 and 2017 — along with Johnson, Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens. For as dominant as Nolan Ryan was, he didn’t win a single Cy Young over his 27 seasons.
Scherzer is also one of only 30 pitchers to throw multiple no-hitters, a list that also includes Ryan (7) and Johnson (2). And he’s one of 17 pitchers to strike out 300 batters in a single season since 1900.
Granted, the game has become more strikeout-oriented as batters worry less and less about striking out. But it still requires a great pitcher to rack them up at the pace Scherzer has.
Is there a case against Max Scherzer?
If so, it's not a particularly strong one now that advanced stats and metrics have given us a clearer perspective on the true value of baseball's most firmly established pitching stats — wins and ERA.
Scherzer's 160 wins and 3.24 career ERA put him a bit behind what has been the standard for starting pitchers. But we're really starting to see that standard change now with Pedro Martinez’s induction in 2015 and Mike Mussina's election this year.
In fact, Forbes recently made a compelling argument for Scherzer by comparing him to Martinez:
But Pedro Martinez cruising in on the first ballot in 2015 established a modern template for Scherzer. Martinez finished with “just” 219 wins, the fifth-fewest among the post-World War II starting pitchers, but his six-season run from 1997 through 2002 left no doubt as to his candidacy.
Like Martinez from 1997-2002, Scherzer has won three Cy Young Awards in the last six years. Every Hall of Fame-eligible pitcher with three Cy Youngs is in the Hall of Fame except steroid-tainted Roger Clemens.
And like Martinez, Scherzer possesses the “it” factor that elevates the greats above everyone else. Every one of Scherzer’s starts is a must-see affair because there is always the chance he’ll pitch one of the best games of all-time.
That isn't to say Scherzer would be a 100 percent first-ballot lock if he walked away tomorrow. But he's making a stronger case with every start. And at 34 years old, he's shown no signs of slowing down.
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