No matter how many baseball games you have watched in your lifetime or how die-hard of a fan you are, occasionally a baseball player comes around who amazes even us extreme baseball nerds. We know Mike Trout is awesome (especially since he's coming back earlier than expected from thumb surgery), we appreciate Yankees rookie Aaron Judge and all the home runs he's hitting, and we acknowledge that the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw is part alien because there's no way someone could be that consistently good. We become accustomed to elite players being exceptional, and we expect perfection every time we watch a game (especially when we remind ourselves of the millions of dollars that these guys make). But once in a while, a player comes around who takes our breath away, gives us goosebumps, and reminds us why we like the game of baseball so much.
Such is the case for me currently with Washington Nationals' rightie pitcher Max Scherzer. Now, back in 2015, when Scherzer joined the Nats, I blogged about how the Nationals had some nerve starting Scherzer on Opening Day, especially after Jordan Zimmermann had finished the 2014 season with a no-hitter. Who were the Nationals to think that a guy who had just joined the team deserved such a prestigious honor? Well I went to that Opening Day game, and I remember realizing that Scherzer had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning, and my dislike for the guy went away instantly, because really, how many times do you get to witness a no-hitter? (his no-hitter ended shortly after I realized I might actually be present for one, but Scherzer has gone on to pitch two no-nos since.)
For the past two-and-a-half seasons, I have come to really love this guy. So much so that he is now officially my baseball crush (not because he's cute, like Iván Rodriguez was, but because he's the most badass pitcher I have ever seen). Let me share some impressive facts about Max with you so you can appreciate how cool this guy is. A two-time Cy Young Award winner, Scherzer became just the sixth pitcher in Major League history to throw two no-hitters in a single season in 2015. He has been to the All-Star Game, is the third-fastest pitcher to reach 2.000 strikeouts, and speaking of strikeouts, he punched out 20 batters in one game.
But it's not just Scherzer's numbers that make him fun to watch. It's his presence on the mound - he is the most visibly competitive athlete I've ever seen, And the longer he stays in a game, the more fierce he gets. He stomps the pitcher's mound like he's preying for his next meal; he grunts with every pitch; he stares down batters like he's going to annihilate them. He is fierce, intimidating, and one of his eyes is blue and the other is brown (he has that condition where your irises are two different colors; didn't David Bowie have that too?). According to Max, "strikeouts are sexy," so People magazine needs to have him on their next "Sexiest Man Alive" cover, because he's always in the top two or three for strikeouts every season (so far he's leading the National League in this category).
Just recently, Scherzer had one of the most memorable outings for me - it was more intense than watching his two no-hitters and just as stressful. It was not his best pitching performance at first, since he hit two batters due to lack of control of his inside pitches. But as the game got going, Max starter getting loose and becoming more dominant. The Mets' Yoenis Céspedes was up to bat with two outs in the eighth inning, and Scherzer was already at 107 pitches. He was looking tired, like he had just emptied his tank and was just running on fumes. But he was determined to get Céspedes out, and it was one of the most epic at-bats in recent memory. After ten pitches to the Mets' slugger, each looking labored and followed by a grunt of desperation (like Scherzer was thinking that if he grunted, the ball would actually reach the plate), Céspedes struck out swinging. My husband and I celebrated that strikeout like if it was the seventh game of the World Series, and Scherzer himself gave a fist pump of relief.
I have not been this excited about a pitcher since Nolan Ryan in the 80s and 90s. And Scherzer doesn't just show up every five days to do his job - in his off days, he has a rigorous workout routine that includes distance running (to improve his endurance and help him make it through the later innings of a game) and sprinting (to help him with his fielding and split-second defensive plays). He is a workhorse, but luckily his pitching style (throwing sliders to righties and curveballs to lefties) makes him less dependent on the fastball (which hopefully means he can avoid the dreaded "Tommy John" surgery). Nolan Ryan pitched a boatload of innings in his career and never needed elbow surgery either, so all those haters who say that Max is the next big pitcher to go under the knife can just shut up and enjoy watching him pitch.
So as we approach the halfway point of the regular season (I know; can you believe it?), check out the Nationals games on MASN or MLBTV, because every fifth day, you are sure to get a treat watching badass Max Scherzer putting on a pitching show. And don't forget to cast your ballot for the All-Star team - if we could vote for pitchers, you know Max Scherzer would be at the top of my ballot.
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