Max Scherzer
Three Cy Young awards and 3,489 strikeouts later, Scherzer remains a marvel of longevity at 42. That 2022 campaign with the Mets stands as perhaps his finest work — a 2.29 ERA at age 38 that was 73 percent better than league average. The strikeout total has held remarkably steady even as the velocity has dropped, a testament to pitch sequencing that borders on chess mastery.
The durability numbers tell the deeper story. Nearly 3,000 innings pitched across 18 seasons, with that 130 career ERA+ showing consistent dominance well into his 40s. While most power pitchers flame out by 35, Scherzer has reinvented himself as a craftsman without sacrificing effectiveness. His ability to adapt his approach while maintaining elite results makes him one of the great aging curves in modern baseball.
| Date | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | HR | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 10 | 3.333 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | L |
| Apr 24 | 2.333 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | L |
| Apr 18 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Apr 12 | 2.333 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2 | L |
| Apr 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | L |
| Mar 31 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | W |
Career · Hitting
15 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | — | 17 | 13 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2009 | — | 31 | 53 | 0 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 2010 | — | 31 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2011 | — | 33 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2012 | — | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2013 | — | 32 | 3 | 0 | 1 | — | 1.000 | — |
| 2014 | — | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2015 | — | 34 | 69 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2016 | — | 34 | 70 | 0 | 12 | — | — | — |
| 2017 | — | 31 | 62 | 1 | 5 | — | — | — |
| 2018 | — | 35 | 70 | 0 | 6 | — | — | — |
| 2019 | — | 29 | 55 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 2021 | — | 19 | 35 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2021 | — | 11 | 24 | 0 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 2021 | — | 30 | 59 | 0 | 1 | — | — | — |
| Career | 432 | 523 | 1 | 31 | — | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
23 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | — | 16 | 56.0 | 0 | 4 | 3.05 | — | 66 | 1.23 |
| 2009 | — | 30 | 170.1 | 9 | 11 | 4.12 | — | 174 | 1.34 |
| 2010 | — | 31 | 195.2 | 12 | 11 | 3.50 | — | 184 | 1.25 |
| 2011 | — | 33 | 195.0 | 15 | 9 | 4.43 | — | 174 | 1.35 |
| 2012 | — | 32 | 187.2 | 16 | 7 | 3.74 | — | 231 | 1.27 |
| 2013 | — | 32 | 214.1 | 21 | 3 | 2.90 | — | 240 | 0.97 |
| 2014 | — | 33 | 220.1 | 18 | 5 | 3.15 | — | 252 | 1.18 |
| 2015 | — | 33 | 228.2 | 14 | 12 | 2.79 | — | 276 | 0.92 |
| 2016 | — | 34 | 228.1 | 20 | 7 | 2.96 | — | 284 | 0.97 |
| 2017 | — | 31 | 200.2 | 16 | 6 | 2.51 | — | 268 | 0.90 |
| 2018 | — | 33 | 220.2 | 18 | 7 | 2.53 | — | 300 | 0.91 |
| 2019 | — | 27 | 172.1 | 11 | 7 | 2.92 | — | 243 | 1.03 |
| 2020 | — | 12 | 67.1 | 5 | 4 | 3.74 | — | 92 | 1.38 |
| 2021 | — | 19 | 111.0 | 8 | 4 | 2.76 | — | 147 | 0.89 |
| 2021 | — | 11 | 68.1 | 7 | 0 | 1.98 | — | 89 | 0.82 |
| 2021 | — | 30 | 179.1 | 15 | 4 | 2.46 | — | 236 | 0.86 |
| 2022 | — | 23 | 145.1 | 11 | 5 | 2.29 | — | 173 | 0.91 |
| 2023 | — | 19 | 107.2 | 9 | 4 | 4.01 | — | 121 | 1.19 |
| 2023 | — | 8 | 45.0 | 4 | 2 | 3.20 | — | 53 | 0.96 |
| 2023 | — | 27 | 152.2 | 13 | 6 | 3.77 | — | 174 | 1.12 |
| 2024 | — | 9 | 43.1 | 2 | 4 | 3.95 | — | 40 | 1.15 |
| 2025 | — | 17 | 85.0 | 5 | 5 | 5.19 | — | 82 | 1.29 |
| 2026 | — | 6 | 22.0 | 1 | 4 | 10.23 | — | 14 | 1.73 |
| Career | 546 | 3311.4 | 250 | 131 | — | — | 3913 | — | |
Each pitch type this pitcher throws regularly, placed by how the ball moves — sideways break across, rise or drop down the side. Each dotted ring holds about the middle 85% of the league’s pitches of that type, so a cluster sitting outside its ring is movement most pitchers don’t have.
The dots — a sample of this pitcher’s regular-season pitches, placed by movement: left–right is horizontal break, up–down is induced vertical break (what the pitch does beyond gravity). The view is handedness-neutral — positive break is toward the pitcher’s arm side for lefties and righties alike, so every sinker runs right and every sweeper breaks left, whoever throws it.
The dotted rings — about the middle 85% of where each pitch type lands league-wide (a 2-standard-deviation spread), measured from 7.5 million regular-season pitches since 2015. A cluster sitting well outside its ring is movement most of the league doesn’t get. Spring training and the postseason are excluded.
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.