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★★★
Max Scherzer is in the midst of a special run for the Washington Nationals. Heading into last night’s game against Philadelphia, he had thrown two consecutive complete game shutouts in which he struck out a combined 26 batters, while walking just one and allowing just a single hit. If there was one less Jose Tabata elbow in the world, he’d have thrown the game’s 24th perfect game last time out. Lucky for him, he was lined up to face one of the worst offenses in the game and another run at a perfect game was possible once again.
Instead, he had just a run-of-the-mill great game. He allowed two runs over eight innings while striking out seven and not walking a single batter. And he was perfect into the sixth. In a way, this start was even more symbolic of how great he has been. In the context of his recent starts, it was something of a mediocre line, but it’d be one of the best outings of the year for any other pitcher in baseball. If that wasn’t special enough, he also earned his 100th career win.
We’re not even one year through his seven-year contract, but the Nationals have to be happy with the early results. Giving a pitcher an average annual value of $30 million is clearly a huge risk, but Washington wouldn’t be where they are without him. The other pitchers in their hyped rotation have been a bit disappointing, but Scherzer is keeping them above water. The goal with long-term contracts is always to have players provide most of their value in the first half of the deal, and Scherzer is doing that in a big way for the Nationals.
- The other side of the coin is long-term free agency contracts that resemble the career of Robinson Cano.
- Ryne Sandberg resigned as Phillies’ manager yesterday, and it was the end of an error.
- The Twins placed Byron Buxton on the disabled list, reminding us all that life is a fickle beast.
- Ho hum, the Mets are calling up yet another exciting young pitcher.
- The Red Sox have been bad, as has their rotation. Should they consider trading the one pitcher who has been good?
- The other Sox have also been bad after an aggressive offseason, and now they should double down on their offseason plan.
- We’re firmly in the beginning of trade rumor season. Expect to hear a lot about the Tigers scouting other teams’ pitchers in the coming weeks.
- Dallas Keuchel has gotten his own cheering section, which is the biggest honor a pitcher can receive.
- The Royals have done a lot right on the way to becoming a legitimate contender. Have they used a sound approach with their prospects, though?
- We’ve been thinking of the Reds as sellers pretty much all year, but could they sneak their way into playoff contention?
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