TORONTO — His buddies put cans of beer inside his clubhouse locker in a pyramid style, one for each year he has lived. His manager joked that the only birthday gift he could provide was a cane.
Max Scherzer is the old man in the room right now.
“I’m enjoying it, I’m just having fun with it,” Scherzer told The Dallas Morning News on Sunday before the Rangers’ 7-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. “I’m just lucky that I’ve been able to be healthy enough over the course of my career to even put myself in this position.”
Scherzer, who turned 40 on Saturday, is MLB’s fourth-oldest active player, trailing only Houston’s Justin Verlander and Atlanta’s Charlie Morton and Jesse Chavez. The age difference between him and Texas rookies Wyatt Langford (22) and Evan Carter (21) is sufficient to vote in the November election. His major league debut (April 29, 2008, with the Arizona Diamondbacks) came one day after Rangers catching coordinator Bobby Wilson’s debut with the Los Angeles Angels and four months before bench coach Will Venable’s debut with the San Diego Padres.
Wilson and Venable have been retired for five and eight years, respectively, and now lead the team that Scherzer is determined to pitch into the playoffs.
“I’m just grateful for everything that’s here,” Scherzer said.
“And I intend to make the most of this opportunity. I still have a chance to participate and win a World Series, which is what kids dream of.”
Scherzer sees himself as an unfinished product and attributes his longevity to adaptation. His throwing program has changed from what it was ten years ago. He’s changed his pitching style and approach to the game to compete at the ever-changing major league level. He has questioned rule changes, like as the introduction of the pitch clock, which he believes has had a big impact on the increase in pitcher injuries, but has not used them as an excuse to leave.
He does not want to.
As long as his performance allows
Continue to meet the standards he has set for himself.
“I’m not just trying to be here,” said Scherzer, who has won the World Series twice. “If I’m simply trying to be here, I’ll go home and be a father and care for all of my children. It’s not enough to be in the big leagues; you must also win in them. If I can’t keep that standard, I don’t want to play anymore.”
Scherzer believes he can uphold the benchmark. His seven outings this season since coming from the injured list, in which he has a 3.57 ERA and more strikeouts (25) than walks (5), provide justification. On Thursday, he passed Verlander on the all-time strikeout leaderboard with his 3,400th strikeout.
is baseball’s current leader. His 216 career victories are the second-highest among active players. According to Baseball Reference’s probability monitor, Scherzer has the third-best chance of being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame among all pitchers who are not yet eligible, trailing only Clayton Kershaw and Verlander from Los Angeles.
Each is a symbol of their generation of arms. Each is still operational. Scherzer is aware of the rarity in an era where starting pitchers’ shelf life are shorter than ever.
“You just need so much good fortune to even have a chance,” Scherzer told the crowd. “Look, when you hurl an abnormal ball at the body, it breaks down. I recall being a young guy wondering about pitching to 40 people. Yes, it was kind.
of a goal, but you suddenly understand it wasn’t all about talent. You must be able to survive it.” Scherzer has suffered numerous severe injuries since the Rangers acquired him from the New York Mets at last year’s trade deadline, including a nerve issue in his right arm that slowed his recovery from offseason back surgery. It caused Scherzer to think about his baseball mortality. A nerve problem, he stated several times during his rehabilitation, can be a serious condition.
He made it through it. That’s how he got this far. This is how he will proceed.
For however long the continuation is.
“I’ve got some things going on in my life,” said Scherzer, who has four kids, the oldest of whom is his daughter Brooke, who is now in first grade. “I am a full-time father. But, right now, we’re doing well as a family unit. My body is feeling terrific, and I’m starting to pitch well. Hopefully, I can take this year by year, and there is certainly a way for me to throw next year.”
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