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Max Scherzer channels his inner Mike Mussina, refusing to leave mound during dominant start

Ben Weinrib
Yahoo Sports Contributor

Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer is known for stomping around the mound, as if stalking his prey at the plate. A calm, amiable person off the field, he takes on a fiery demeanor when pitching.

Scherzer’s manager Davey Martinez saw that first-hand on Sunday when he considered removing his starter after 117 pitches against the Cincinnati Reds. It did not go well.

Scherzer barked at his manager, and while it’s hard to read Scherzer’s lips from the video because his face keeps getting obscured, he’s fired up, and you can clearly make out him yelling, “No!” when Martinez approaches.

“I wanted to hear it from him,” Martinez said, via MLB.com. “We exchanged some non-professional words. I’d rather not say what they were, but I loved it. What can I say about Max? He’s the best.”

That certainly elicits memories of Hall of Famer Mike Mussina yelling at manager Joe Torre to not leave the dugout when he was one out away from a complete game in 2006.

Martinez did not let Scherzer throw all nine innings, although he needed 120 pitches to get through eight innings. Mussina, on the other hand, yelled at Torre after he was only at 94 pitches.

Still, Scherzer made Martinez’s decision to leave him in — if we can call it that — pay off. The three-time Cy Young Award winner struck out Joey Votto on three pitches to end the frame.

CINCINNATI, OH - JUNE 02: Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez #4 talks to Max Scherzer #31 before choosing to leave him in the game in the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on June 2, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Nationals won 4-1. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
Nationals starter Max Scherzer (left) would not let manager Dave Martinez take him out of the game on Sunday. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

How dominant has Scherzer been lately?

Like a fine wine, Scherzer continues to age well. Even at 34, he’s still in peak form.

Scherzer leads all pitchers with 3.4 WAR, thanks to a 3.06 ERA and league-best 2.13 FIP. His 12.34 strikeouts per nine innings also ranks third among starters, while his 1.90 walks per nine innings ranks 14th.

Sunday was more of the same with 15 strikeouts over eight innings. He held the Reds to one run on three hits with just one walk. These high-strikeout, low-run starts have been signatures for him with 21 since the start of 2017.

Scherzer’s company in this dominant group just underscores how likely he is to head to the Hall of Fame; the rest of the group is either already enshrined or likely headed there. And Scherzer certainly doesn’t have the PED baggage of Roger Clemens or noxious personality of Curt Schilling.

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