Max Scherzer, baseball player, 2008

Max Scherzer

Active Player

Born: 7/27/1984 in St. Louis, MO, USA

MLB Debut: 2008-04-29

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'3" | Weight: 208 lbs

Full name: Maxwell Martin Scherzer

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Biography

Max Scherzer, born in 1984, is a dominant pitcher who continues to impact Major League Baseball with his exceptional skills and competitive spirit. Making his debut in 2008, Scherzer quickly establishes himself as one of the premier strikeout artists of his generation. His career record stands at 216-112, complemented by an impressive earned run average (ERA) of 3.16. With 3,407 strikeouts to his name, he ranks among the all-time greats in this category, showcasing his ability to overpower hitters with a combination of velocity and a diverse pitch arsenal. Scherzer's career is highlighted by multiple accolades, including three Cy Young Awards and eight All-Star selections, reflecting his sustained excellence and recognition by peers and analysts alike. Known for his fierce competitiveness and distinctive style, including his trademark intensity on the mound, he continues to be a key player in the league, inspiring a new generation of pitchers. As an active player, Scherzer remains a significant figure in baseball, contributing to his teams and the sport overall during a time of evolving strategies and player development.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
222 119 487 478 12 5 0 2979.3 2449 1072 358 784 3499 3.24 0

Career ERA 3.24 vs. league average 4.14 across their career seasons — 21.7% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
2008 AZ NL 0 4 16 7 0 0 0 56.0 48 19 21 66 3.05 4.32 (+29%) -
2009 AZ NL 9 11 30 30 0 0 0 170.3 166 78 63 174 4.12 4.32 (+5%) -
2010 DET AL 12 11 31 31 0 0 0 195.7 174 76 70 184 3.50 4.08 (+14%) 1893.7
2011 DET AL 15 9 33 33 0 0 0 195.0 207 96 56 174 4.43 3.94 (-12%) -1018.8
2012 DET AL 16 7 32 32 0 0 0 187.7 179 78 60 231 3.74 4.01 (+7%) 3651.7
2013 DET AL 21 3 32 32 0 0 0 214.3 152 69 56 240 2.90 3.87 (+25%) 6297.1
2014 DET AL 18 5 33 33 1 1 0 220.3 196 77 63 252 3.15 3.74 (+16%) 5149.5
2015 WAS NL 14 12 33 33 4 3 0 228.7 176 71 34 276 2.79 3.96 (+29%) 7154.3
2016 WAS NL 20 7 34 34 1 0 0 228.3 165 75 56 284 2.96 4.19 (+29%) 5685.9
2017 WAS NL 16 6 31 31 2 0 0 200.7 126 56 55 268 2.51 4.36 (+42%) 7624.1
2018 WAS NL 18 7 33 33 2 1 0 220.7 150 62 51 300 2.53 4.15 (+39%) 8626.4
2019 WAS NL 11 7 27 27 0 0 0 172.3 144 56 33 243 2.92 4.51 (+35%) 9176.1
2020 WAS NL 5 4 12 12 1 0 0 67.3 70 28 23 92 3.74 4.45 (+16%) 1697.3
2021 WAS NL 8 4 19 19 1 0 0 111.0 71 34 28 147 2.76 4.27 (+35%) 1882.1
2021 LAD NL 7 0 11 11 0 0 0 68.3 48 15 8 89 1.98 4.27 (+54%) -
2022 NYN NL 11 5 23 23 0 0 0 145.3 108 37 24 173 2.29 3.97 (+42%) 5056.6
2023 NYN NL 9 4 19 19 0 0 0 107.7 98 48 30 121 4.01 4.33 (+7%) -1024.2
2023 TEX AL 4 2 8 8 0 0 0 45.0 28 16 15 53 3.20 4.33 (+26%) 1045.8
2024 TEX AL 2 4 9 9 0 0 0 43.3 40 19 10 40 3.95 4.08 (+3%) -113.4
2025 TOR AL 5 5 17 17 0 0 0 85.0 87 49 23 82 5.19 4.14 (-25%) -1806.4
2026 TOR AL 1 2 4 4 0 0 0 16.3 16 13 5 10 7.16 3.82 (-88%) -

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
490 464 31 78 6 0 1 30 3 13 161 0.168 0.194 0.188 0.381 -2451.7

Career AVG .168 vs. league average .252 across their career seasons — 33.3% below league average.

Career OBP .194 vs. league average .320 across their career seasons — 39.5% below league average.

Career SLG .188 vs. league average .408 across their career seasons — 54.1% below league average.

Career OPS 0.381 vs. league average 0.729 across their career seasons — 47.7% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
2008 AZ NL 17 13 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2009 AZ NL 31 53 4 12 2 0 0 3 0 3 17 0.226 .262 (-14%) .332 (-20%) .417 (-37%) .750 (-29%) -264.3
2010 DET AL 31 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2011 DET AL 33 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2012 DET AL 32 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2013 DET AL 32 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.333 — — — — 0.0
2014 DET AL 33 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2015 WAS NL 34 69 4 15 0 0 0 0 0 2 23 0.217 .254 (-15%) .316 (-24%) .404 (-46%) .721 (-37%) -412.9
2016 WAS NL 34 70 4 13 1 0 0 12 0 2 30 0.186 .255 (-27%) .321 (-35%) .417 (-52%) .738 (-45%) -531.9
2017 WAS NL 31 62 4 10 0 0 1 5 0 4 16 0.161 .254 (-37%) .324 (-35%) .425 (-51%) .750 (-44%) -465.6
2018 WAS NL 35 70 8 17 2 0 0 6 1 1 14 0.243 .247 (-2%) .318 (-14%) .409 (-34%) .727 (-25%) -286.8
2019 WAS NL 29 55 6 10 0 0 0 2 2 0 27 0.182 .252 (-28%) .322 (-44%) .434 (-58%) .757 (-52%) -490.3
2020 WAS NL 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2021 WAS NL 19 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2021 LAD NL 11 24 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 15 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2022 NYN NL 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2023 NYN NL 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2023 TEX AL 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2024 TEX AL 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2025 TOR AL 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
32 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2025 ALCS TOR 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2025 WS TOR 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2023 ALCS TEX 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2023 WS TEX 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2022 NLWC1 NYN 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2021 NLCS LAN 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
2021 NLDS2 LAN 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000
2021 NLWC LAN 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2019 NLCS WAS 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000
2019 NLDS1 WAS 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000
2019 NLWC WAS 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
2019 WS WAS 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2017 NLDS2 WAS 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000
2016 NLDS2 WAS 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000
2014 ALDS2 DET 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2013 ALCS DET 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2013 ALDS2 DET 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2012 ALCS DET 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2012 ALDS2 DET 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2012 WS DET 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2011 ALCS DET 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2011 ALDS1 DET 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
8 7 32 27 1 153.3 116 61 61 178 3.58

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2025 ALCS TOR 1 0 1 1 0 5.7 3 2 4 5 3.18
2025 WS TOR 0 0 2 2 0 8.7 9 4 2 6 4.15
2023 ALCS TEX 0 0 1 1 0 2.7 4 2 2 2 6.75
2023 WS TEX 0 0 1 1 0 3.0 2 0 2 1 0.00
2022 NLWC1 NYN 0 1 1 1 0 4.7 7 7 0 4 13.50
2021 NLCS LAN 0 0 1 1 0 4.3 4 2 1 7 4.15
2021 NLDS2 LAN 0 1 2 1 1 8.0 3 1 1 12 1.12
2021 NLWC LAN 0 0 1 1 0 4.3 3 1 3 4 2.08
2019 NLCS WAS 1 0 1 1 0 7.0 1 0 2 11 0.00
2019 NLDS1 WAS 1 0 2 1 0 8.0 4 1 3 10 1.12
2019 NLWC WAS 0 0 1 1 0 5.0 4 3 3 6 5.40
2019 WS WAS 1 0 2 2 0 10.0 12 4 7 10 3.60
2017 NLDS2 WAS 0 1 2 1 0 7.3 4 3 4 8 3.68
2016 NLDS2 WAS 0 1 2 2 0 12.0 10 5 2 12 3.75
2014 ALDS2 DET 0 1 1 1 0 7.3 7 5 1 6 6.14
2013 ALCS DET 0 1 2 2 0 13.3 6 4 7 21 2.70
2013 ALDS2 DET 2 0 2 1 0 9.0 6 3 4 13 3.00
2012 ALCS DET 1 0 1 1 0 5.7 2 1 2 10 1.59
2012 ALDS2 DET 0 0 1 1 0 5.3 3 0 1 8 0.00
2012 WS DET 0 0 1 1 0 6.3 7 3 1 8 4.26
2011 ALCS DET 0 1 2 2 0 8.3 11 9 5 7 9.72
2011 ALDS1 DET 1 0 2 1 0 7.3 4 1 4 7 1.23

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 483 474 164 215 18 15

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
2008 ARI P 16 7 4 5 1 2
2009 ARI P 30 30 15 18 2 3
2010 DET P 31 31 14 14 2 0
2011 DET P 33 33 11 12 0 2
2012 DET P 32 32 8 13 1 0
2013 DET P 32 32 17 21 3 0
2014 DET P 33 33 9 17 1 2
2015 WAS P 33 33 7 22 0 0
2016 WAS P 34 34 12 19 1 1
2017 WAS P 31 31 9 9 1 1
2018 WAS P 33 33 8 8 1 0
2019 WAS P 27 27 10 13 1 1
2020 WAS P 12 12 3 5 2 1
2021 WAS P 19 19 6 4 0 0
2021 LAN P 11 11 2 6 0 0
2022 NYN P 23 23 6 12 0 1
2023 NYN P 19 19 9 6 1 1
2023 TEX P 8 8 6 2 0 0
2024 TEX P 9 9 4 5 1 0
2025 TOR P 17 17 4 4 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 483

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
2022 All-MLB Team - Second Team SP
2021 All-MLB Team - First Team SP
2021 MLB Players Choice Outstanding Pitcher
2021 Player of the Week Week of 2021-09-11
2021 TSN All-Star SP
2021 TSN Pitcher of the Year
2019 All-MLB Team - First Team SP
2019 Pitcher of the Month June
2019 Player of the Week Week of 2019-06-29
2018 Pitcher of the Month April
2018 Pitcher of the Month May
2018 Player of the Week Week of 2018-04-14
2017 Cy Young Award
2017 MLB Players Choice Outstanding Pitcher
2017 Pitcher of the Month June
2017 TSN All-Star SP
2017 TSN Pitcher of the Year
2016 Cy Young Award
2016 This Year in Baseball Best Performance Esurance
2016 This Year in Baseball Best Pitcher Esurance
2016 TSN All-Star SP
2016 TSN Pitcher of the Year
2015 Pitcher of the Month June
2015 Pitcher of the Month May
2015 Player of the Week Week of 2015-06-21
2015 Player of the Week Week of 2015-10-04
2015 This Year in Baseball Best Performance Esurance
2013 Cy Young Award
2013 MLB Players Choice Outstanding Pitcher
2013 Player of the Week Week of 2013-06-23

Featured In Rankings

#15
Top 25 Starting Pitchers in History of MLB Baseball
Ranked 15 of 25
→

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
2016 WAS NL $22,142,857
2015 WAS NL $17,142,000
2014 DET AL $15,525,000
2013 DET AL $6,725,000
2012 DET AL $3,750,000
2011 DET AL $600,000
2010 DET AL $1,500,000
2009 ARI NL $1,450,000
Total Career Earnings $68,834,857

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
University of Missouri Columbia Columbia MO 2004, 2005, 2006

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
2021 Cy Young Award NL 3rd 113.0 210 6
2021 Most Valuable Player NL 14th 11.0 420 0
2019 Cy Young Award NL 3rd 72.0 210 0
2019 Most Valuable Player NL 22th 1.0 420 0
2018 Cy Young Award NL 2nd 123.0 210 1
2018 Most Valuable Player NL 10th 59.0 420 0
2017 Cy Young Award NL 1st 201.0 210 27
2017 Most Valuable Player NL 10th 34.0 420 0
2016 Cy Young Award NL 1st 192.0 210 25
2016 Most Valuable Player NL 10th 39.0 420 0
2015 Cy Young Award NL 5th 32.0 210 0
2014 Cy Young Award AL 5th 32.0 210 0
2013 Cy Young Award AL 1st 203.0 210 28
2013 Most Valuable Player AL 12th 25.0 420 0