BIOGRAPHY
Max Scherzer was born on July 27, 1984, in Chesterfield, Missouri. He is a pitcher in the MLB.
Nicknamed "Mad Max" after the fictional character of the same name, Scherzer is considered one of the best pitchers in baseball. A right-handed starting pitcher, Scherzer is a seven-time MLB All-Star, has won three Cy Young Awards, has pitched two no-hitters, and was a member of the 2019 World Series champion Washington Nationals.
The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Scherzer with the 11th overall pick of the 2006 amateur draft. He made his MLB debut with the Diamondbacks in 2008. In December 2009, Scherzer was traded to the Detroit Tigers. During his five-year tenure in Detroit, Scherzer made the American League All-Star Team twice and won the 2013 American League Cy Young Award. Scherzer also helped the Tigers win four consecutive American League Central titles from 2011 to 2014.
Prior to the 2015 season, Scherzer agreed to a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Nationals. At the time of its signing, the contract was one of the largest in sports history. In 2015, Scherzer became the sixth pitcher in Major League history to record multiple no-hitters in a single season. On May 11, 2016, he tied the major league nine-inning single-game strikeout record with 20, making him the second player to achieve both a no-hitter and 20 strikeouts over nine innings; in the same game, he became the youngest-ever pitcher to have defeated all 30 MLB teams during his career. Scherzer won the NL Cy Young Award in 2016 and 2017, and has made the National League All-Star Team five times with the Nationals. In the 2019 World Series, Scherzer earned a win in Game One and also started the deciding Game Seven, which the Nationals also won (Scherzer received a no-decision). The 2019 World Series championship was the first in the history of the Nationals franchise.
Scherzer is the fifth pitcher to start an All-Star Game for both the American and National Leagues. He is a four-time wins leader and a winner of three strikeout titles. One of the most consistent hurlers of his era, he made at least 30 starts each season from 2009 to 2018 and struck out at least 230 batters in each season from 2012 to 2018. In 2017, he became the third-fastest hurler to record 2,000 career strikeouts and the fourth to strike out 250 or more in four consecutive seasons. Scherzer recorded more wins (161) and strikeouts (2,503) than any pitcher in the 2010s.
On July 30, 2021—the day of the MLB trade deadline—with the Nationals under .500 and Scherzer in the final year of his contract, Scherzer was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers along with Trea Turner in exchange for Josiah Gray, Keibert Ruiz, Donovan Casey, and Gerardo Carrillo. Scherzer made his Dodgers debut on August 4 in Los Angeles against the Astros, pitching seven innings and giving up two runs and striking out 10 batters, and earned the win.
On September 12, he struck out Eric Hosmer of the San Diego Padres to become the 19th pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts. In the same game, Scherzer pitched his third immaculate inning, tying Sandy Koufax and Chris Sale for the most immaculate innings thrown in a major-league career. On September 13, Scherzer was named NL Player of the Week. It was the sixth time Scherzer has earned Player of the Week honors in his career. Scherzer finished the 2021 season with a 15–4 record and led all qualified pitchers with a 0.86 WHIP and a .185 batting average against.
On September 16, Scherzer was named by his former team the Washington Nationals as their nominee for the season's Roberto Clemente Award, recognizing character, community involvement and philanthropy for his family's contributions to the Washington, DC area.
On December 1, Scherzer agreed to a three-year, $130 million contract with the New York Mets. The contract has an average annual value (AAV) of $43.3 million, which is the largest AAV in MLB history, breaking the previous record held by Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees who had an AAV of $36 million.
On April 8, 2022, Scherzer earned the win in his Mets debut against his former team, the Washington Nationals. The start was Scherzer’s first-ever start as a visitor at Nationals Park and his first time facing the Nationals in nearly 12 years.
On April 19, 2022, Scherzer made his home debut for the Mets, striking out 10 and allowing a hit and a run in seven innings of work, for this effort he earned his third win of the 2022 season and his first win with the Mets at Citi Field.
On July 29, 2023, the Mets traded Scherzer to the Texas Rangers along with $35.5 million in cash considerations for shortstop prospect Luisangel Acuña. As part of the deal, Scherzer opted in to his 2024 player option worth more than $43 million. In his debut with the Rangers, Scherzer pitched six innings, allowing seven hits, three earned runs, and recorded two walks and nine strikeouts. On September 13, Scherzer was shut down for the remainder of the regular season after suffering a teres major strain. In 8 starts for the Rangers, he posted a 4–2 record and 3.20 ERA with 53 strikeouts in 45.0 innings of work.
Scherzer was re-activated during the postseason. He started three postseason games: Games 3 and 7 of the 2023 ALCS and Game 3 of the 2023 World Series. While he was eventually shut down again following back pain, the Rangers would go on to win their first World Series title in franchise history, giving Scherzer his second ring.
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