JUPITER, Fla. -- As the strikeouts accumulated, the game began to look more like the regular season and less like Spring Training.
Max Scherzer fanned seven batters in four scoreless innings on Monday afternoon in the Nationals’ 4-2 loss to the Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. He reached 58 pitches and allowed two hits in his third spring start.
Last season, Scherzer recorded seven-plus strikeouts through four frames in four games. The only other pitchers to accomplish that mark more than four times were Shane Bieber (8), Jacob deGrom (6) and Dinelson Lamet (5).
“There’s still more to accomplish before you’re really in midseason form,” Scherzer said. “But for mid-March ... your stuff is where you want it.”
Scherzer has thrown 8 2/3 innings in Grapefruit League action. He’s posted 14 strikeouts, three hits, two runs (both earned), two walks and a 0.58 WHIP. He is holding opponents to a .103 batting average.
On Monday, Scherzer’s velocity hit 96.9 mph on his fastball, according to Statcast. He threw 96 mph or higher on five pitches, and manager Dave Martinez noted the ease at which the ball was coming out of his hand.
As Scherzer gets reacquainted with catcher Alex Avila, his former teammate on the Tigers, he is working on establishing familiarity with his entire arsenal. He mixed in 31 fastballs with 11 curveballs, seven sliders, five cutters and four changeups.
“It’s been great to throw to Alex and get on the same page as how he wants to set up in the zone, where he wants certain pitches,” Scherzer said, adding that, “then the fun begins in the season when we start getting reports on how we want to actually attack hitters.”
Scherzer is just over two weeks from the start of his 14th Major League season (seventh with the Nationals). The Nats’ goal is for him to throw 70 pitches over five innings in his next start and build up to around 100 pitches before leaving Florida.
Martinez would also like to see Scherzer work his way through high-leverage situations, similar to what he’d encounter in a regular-season game.
What Scherzer makes look seamless in March is what some pitchers strive for in the summer months. At this point in his career, that's what Martinez has come to expect.
“He wants to be the best, and he competes in every aspect of his game,” Martinez said. “That shows when he goes out there on the mound to pitch."
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March 16, 2021 at 04:29AM
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Scherzer nears midseason form ... in March - MLB.com
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