Maxwell Martin Scherzer (born July 27, 1984) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Mets. A right-handed starting pitcher, Scherzer is an eight-time MLB All-Star, has won three Cy Young Awards, has pitched two no-hitters, and won the World Series with the Nationals in 2019. Known for his intensity and competitiveness on the field, he is nicknamed "Mad Max" after the film series of the same name.
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.
Before 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 defeat all 30 MLB teams during his career. Scherzer won the NL Cy Young Award in 2016 and 2017 and 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 started 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 2019. In 2017, he became the third-fastest player ever 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 (2,452) than any pitcher in the 2010s. He logged his 3,000th strikeout on September 12, 2021. He holds the record for the highest average annual value baseball contract ever, earning over $43 million per season.
Early life
Scherzer was born and raised in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield, Missouri, the son of Jan (Shirck) and Brad Scherzer, and grew up a St. Louis Cardinals fan. He played baseball, football, and basketball as a student at Parkway Central High School which is in his hometown. What he lacked in raw talent, he made up for with the fiercely competitive nature which distinguishes his athletic career. One of his high school coaching influences was basketball coach Rick Kirby, who stressed fundamentals and was defense-oriented. Marty Maier, then the Cardinals' scouting director, selected him in the 43rd round (1,291st overall) of the 2003 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. However he did not sign and instead attended the University of Missouri in Columbia.
College career
Early in his time at Missouri, Scherzer exerted so much effort in his windup that his head whip constantly caused his cap to fall off. One of Scherzer's coaches at Missouri, Tony Vitello, had helped to recruit him, and eventually persuaded him to pitch with more balance and control, and to stop leaping at hitters, which frequently caused him to miss up and in to right-handed batters. He did not pitch the final 50 days of his freshman season, choosing instead to focus on working out and doing long toss, while gaining velocity in the process. Vitello and head coach Tim Jamieson trained him in a drill to balance on his back leg with more coordination and not to fall over his front foot. Scherzer modified his delivery and worked constantly over the following winter, leading to a 1.86 earned run average (ERA) and 131 strikeouts in 106 innings pitched over 16 games during his sophomore season. In 2005, he won the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Award.
On January 9, 2012, it was announced that Scherzer would be one of six new inductees to the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame.