14 K's, 0 walks: Scherzer in vintage form just 3 starts into Spring Training

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- So this is what a healthy Max Scherzer looks like.

Scherzer, 40, got six different Tigers to go down swinging in 3 1/3 innings of one-hit scoreless pitching in the Blue Jays¡¯ 5-0 win at TD Ballpark on Saturday afternoon, while a split squad fell to the Phillies, 5-4, at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater. And he got those punchouts on four different pitches: two 94 mph four-seamers, two changeups, one slider and one curve.

When Toronto manager John Schneider came to take out Scherzer after 49 pitches (38 strikeouts), All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. applauded while pounding his glove and shouting compliments to the right-hander.

After three starts for his new team, Scherzer has an impressive pitching line: nine innings, 14 strikeouts, zero walks, three hits and two earned runs.

Wow.

Scherzer, who won Cy Young Awards in 2013 with the Tigers and in ¡®16 and ¡®17 with the Nationals and has won 216 games since debuting in ¡®08, is coming off a frustrating season for the Rangers.

Scherzer went 2-4 with a 3.95 ERA in 2024, and injuries limited him to 43 1/3 innings. Back surgery on a herniated disk held him out of the early going, and then a shoulder flareup and hamstring injury shelved him.

What does it feel like to finally be healthy?

¡°Um, yeah,¡± said Scherzer, pausing to smile. ¡°I¡¯ve got a few years of ¡­ I know what it¡¯s like to be healthy. I was able to pitch with every pitch, working with [catcher Alejandro] Kirk there to kind of get to the right lanes. I got in my work.¡±

Scherzer said he¡¯s ¡°not 100 percent locked in¡± with Kirk after just three starts, but he is confident their rapport will grow.

¡°The fun starts once the season starts,¡± added Scherzer.

Scherzer¡¯s patented delivery remains the same. He catches the ball back from the catcher, flips it under-handed out of his glove to his right hand, gets set and begins a rapid-fire motion that ends with a long follow-through punctuated with a shoulder lean.

It¡¯s the same motion that baseball people feared would equate to a short, injury-plagued career. But Scherzer has stayed pretty healthy in his 17 seasons, reaching 30 starts 11 times and throwing 2,878 innings with 3,407 strikeouts (11th all-time) and 756 walks. That computes to a nifty 2.4 walks and 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

How did he prove those injury critics wrong?

¡°I got the secrets, but I don¡¯t tell ¡®em,¡± said Scherzer. ¡°I¡¯m not going to tell you, but I know what I need to do to deliver the ball safely, healthy, be durable and everything that goes into it. So I share it with my teammates and not the public.¡±

Scherzer struck out Colt Keith and Jake Rogers with 94 mph fastballs and got Jace Jung and Bligh Madris out in front on changeups. Javier B¨¢ez went down swinging on a slider, and Zach McKinstry got fooled on a curve to become Scherzer¡¯s sixth strikeout of the day.

How pleased was he to have his whole arsenal working so early in Spring Training?

¡°That¡¯s just command,¡± said Scherzer. ¡°Command of every pitch. So it¡¯s just piecing together and making sure you¡¯re filling up the strike zone and putting the fastball where you want it.

¡°I¡¯m trying to get my arm built up, using it the right way to come out of this healthy. And I¡¯m looking forward to my next start. ¡­ Physically, I¡¯m in a good spot, and that¡¯s all that matters.¡±

Asked about Scherzer¡¯s effectiveness on all four pitches, Schneider said, ¡°He¡¯s got a variety of different ways to do it. He reads hitters really well. I think him and Kirky are getting closer and closer to being really good on the same page.

¡°I mean, there¡¯s not really much you can say. The guy¡¯s a Hall of Famer. So I think just kind of reading swings and seeing, understanding where he needs to be with his stuff. He¡¯s just really good. He doesn¡¯t put too much into the results of spring, but he definitely knows how to pitch.¡±

What does Schneider know about Scherzer now that he didn¡¯t before?

¡°You know the stuff,¡± said Schneider. ¡°And what we¡¯ve learned and will continue to learn is the day in, day out, the conversations that he has in between starts with what he¡¯s doing, how he¡¯s feeling. We¡¯re learning about him, and he¡¯s learning about us.

¡°We all know the competitor that he is when he¡¯s out there. Looking forward to seeing that switch turn on as we get into the regular season. But he¡¯s just really, really intentional with everything that he does. And [he¡¯s] done more than most people have seen.¡±

Scherzer¡¯s on his way to making Toronto¡¯s one-year, $15.5 million deal with him look like money very well spent.