The New York Mets announced that the club has signed three-time Cy Young Award winner and eight-time All-Star right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer to a three-year contract.
“Max is a fierce competitor, and we are thrilled to welcome him to New York,” said Mets General Manager Billy Eppler. “The credit goes to Steve and Alex Cohen for their efforts, commitment and resources to bring someone as accomplished as Max into the organization.”
Scherzer went 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA (49 earned runs/179.1 innings) in 30 starts between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers last year. He struck out 236 and walked 36 while earning his eighth All-Star nod. He led the majors in opponents’ batting average (.185) and WHIP (0.864), was second in ERA and walks per 9 IP (1.807), was fourth in strikeouts and pitcher bWAR (6.0), and ranked fifth among pitchers in fWAR (5.4) as well as fifth in wins.
Scherzer is a three-time Cy Young Award winner, taking home the trophy with Detroit in 2013 and with Washington in 2016 and 2017. He finished third in voting last season and is one of seven pitchers in major league history to finish in the top five of his league’s Cy Young voting eight or more times.
In 2021, he recorded his ninth season with at least 200 strikeouts. Only Nolan Ryan (15), Randy Johnson (13), Roger Clemens (12) and Tom Seaver (10) have more seasons with 200 or more strikeouts. Scherzer has 104 games with double-digit strikeouts during his career, the fifth-most in major league history, behind Ryan (215), Johnson (212), Clemens (110) and Pedro Martinez (108). He became the 19th pitcher in major league baseball to reach 3,000 strikeouts on September 12, 2021.
Scherzer is the active leader in strikeouts and ranks third among active pitchers in ERA, fourth in wins and bWAR for pitchers (67.1), and fifth in starts. He has led his league in wins four times, strikeouts three times and innings twice.
Scherzer is second in the majors with 36 starts of 7.0 or more innings and two earned runs or fewer allowed since 2018 (Jacob deGrom is first with 42). According to Fangraphs, Scherzer leads the majors with 33.2 WAR since 2016. DeGrom is second with 30.5.
Scherzer is 10-2 with a 2.14 ERA (22 earned runs/92.2 innings) with 125 strikeouts in 14 career starts at Citi Field. He tossed his second career no-hitter at Citi Field on October 3, 2015.
According to Elias, Scherzer and deGrom will become the seventh duo of multi-Cy Young Award winners to pitch for the same team in the same season, joining the 2021 Dodgers (Scherzer & Clayton Kershaw), 2008 Mets (Pedro Martínez & Johan Santana), 2005-2007 Mets (Martínez & Tom Glavine), 1999-2002 Braves (Glavine and Greg Maddux), 2001 Red Sox (Martínez & Bret Saberhagen) and the 1986 White Sox (Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton).
A member of the 2019 World Series Champion Washington Nationals, Scherzer has appeared in 26 career postseason games, including a start in the decisive Game 7 of the 2019 World Series. He was 3-0 with a 2.40 ERA in six games (five starts) during the 2019 postseason. Overall, he has posted a 7-6 record with a 3.22 ERA (46 earned runs/128.1 innings) with 14 walks and 160 strikeouts in 26 games (21 starts) in the postseason.
The eight-time All-Star has posted a 190-97 record with a 3.16 ERA (890 earned runs/2,536.2 innings) with 677 walks and 3,020 strikeouts in 407 games (398 starts) across 14 major league seasons.
He was originally drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round (11th overall) of the 2006 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Missouri.
