Max Scherzer enters even more elite company with 300-strikeout season
Already the owner of three Cy Young Awards, two no-hitters and a 20-strikeout game, Max Scherzer entered another exclusive club on Tuesday.
The Washington Nationals ace recorded 10 strikeouts against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday to up his season total to 300, becoming the 17th player in modern MLB history to reach the mark. Scherzer reached the milestone in the seventh inning after a 10-pitch battle against Austin Dean that ended in a whiff on Scherzer’s slider.
Max Scherzer is the third pitcher in the past 15 years to strikeout 300 batters in a single season. pic.twitter.com/sKISncb32G
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 26, 2018
Scherzer is also just the third pitcher to hit 300 strikeouts since 2002, when Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling both reached the mark for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The other two since then: Clayton Kershaw in 2015 and Chris Sale last season.
Any chance Dave Martinez considered taking the ball from Scherzer before he reached 300 K’s tonight?? “I value my life.”
— Jamal Collier (@JamalCollier) September 26, 2018
Does this mean Max Scherzer should win the Cy Young?
Funnily enough, it probably doesn’t. That’s not to say Scherzer hasn’t had an incredible season. He has, leading the league in wins, innings, WHIP, strikeouts and strikeout rate (duh) with a 2.53 ERA that tops the mark from two of this three Cy Young seasons (2.90 in 2013 and 2.96 in 2016) and nearly tops his third (2.51 last season).
That’s amazing, but it should also tell you just how amazing Jacob deGrom has been this season that Scherzer is widely seen as the runner-up. The Mets right-hander holds a comically good 1.77 ERA, seems to set a new record with every start and has very much been the best pitcher in the NL this season no matter how badly his team has played in the background.
While missing out on a third straight Cy Young Award would be rough for Scherzer given how good he’s been, he can at least rest knowing he is not alone in reaching 300 strikeouts but missing out on the Cy Young. In fact, both Sale and Kershaw didn’t win the Cy Young either the years they hit 300.
Another entry on Max Scherzer’s résumé
Cy Young Award or not, what’s not debatable is Scherzer just added another bullet point to a résumé that seems likely to eventually land him in the Hall of Fame.
Here’s the list of pitchers to win three Cy Young Awards and record a 300-strikeout season: Sandy Koufax, Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer. If you restrict it to pitchers who have also thrown multiple no-hitters, you get: Sandy Koufax, Randy Johnson and Max Scherzer.
Given how long it took for Scherzer to realize his potential — he made his MLB debut at 23 years old and won his first Cy Young at 28 — he’s a long shot to reach the vaunted 300-win or 4,000-strikeout clubs. But just looking at Scherzer’s resume when it comes to big games and big seasons, you have a player whose highest moments put him among the Hall of Fame’s inner-circle pitchers.
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