Max Scherzer always aims to be aggressive on the mound, attacking hitters and finding ways to work through lineups while staying in the strike zone.
Over his 17 seasons in the big leagues, the three-time Cy Young Award winner has accumulated a lot of strikeouts. The Texas Rangers right-hander now has more strikeouts than any other active pitcher.
Scherzer moved into 10th place on the career strikeout list with 3,400 after passing his former teammate and fellow three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander. He achieved this while striking out a season-high nine batters in the Rangers’ 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.
“When you’re talking about a milestone like this … this is all about durability. This is about being year-in, year-out healthy,” Scherzer said.
“I know I’ve been shaking some injuries here as of late, but over the course of my career, I’ve been able to be healthy and be durable and be able to make my starts and go out there and compete just year-in, year-out, and continue to get better every single season.”
Two days before his 40th birthday and five days after a start limited to two innings because of arm fatigue, Scherzer (2-3) threw 62 of 85 pitches for strikes. He allowed one run and walked one while allowing only three hits over six innings.
This was just his seventh start since having back surgery in the offseason.
“Incredible career he’s had, and reached quite a milestone. Amazing, now he’s in the top 10 in strikeouts,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said.
“A huge bounce-back game for Scherzer. I mean absolutely dominant,” catcher Andrew Knizner said. “All his stuff was working. Slider was sharp, heater was coming out hot, mixing all of his pitches, hitting spots. … Just a classic game from Scherzer. And honestly, I think he was getting better as the game went.”
