Washington’s Max Scherzer is on a very short list of pitchers all-time to have won three Cy Young Awards, but he has been surpassed as the best pitcher in the National League these days by the Mets’ Jacob deGrom. Here are two props available to wager at Mybookie on Scherzer’s 2020 MLB season – assuming there is one – and an overview.
Max Scherzer MLB Awards Odds & Analysis For 2020 Season
- Most wins of any pitcher: Scherzer is +1000 fourth-favorite
- NL Cy Young Award: Scherzer is +500 second-favorite behind Jacob deGrom
No question that Scherzer is a first-ballot Hall of Famer and might be the best free-agent signing in MLB history. He is the 10th pitcher in history to win at least three Cy Young Awards, the sixth to record two no-hitters in one season, the fifth with more than one immaculate inning, and the second to strike out at least 200 batters in a season eight years in a row.
He started Game 7 of the World Series against Houston and allowed two runs over five innings. Scherzer was able to pitch in this game three days after he was scratched from Game 5 of the Fall Classic with neck spasms. Scherzer allowed seven hits and four walks. The right-hander also pitched Game 1, allowing two runs over five innings. Scherzer gave up a two-out, two-strike, two-run double to Yuli Gurriel in the bottom of the first inning, but those were the only runs that the Astros could muster. Scherzer didn’t throw a 1-2-3 frame until the bottom of the fifth and finished with a pitch count of 112. He struck out seven batters while issuing three walks and yielding five hits.
The Nats don’t even make the World Series most likely without an excellent outing by Scherzer in Game 4 of the NLDS when he beat the Dodgers. He threw seven innings of one-run ball. Scherzer allowed a two-out solo home run to Justin Turner in the first inning, but that was it. Scherzer’s biggest moment came in his final inning, as he struck out Chris Taylor and got Joc Pederson to ground out to escape a bases-loaded jam in the seventh. The Nats would then rally to win Game 5.
During the regular season, Scherzer battled some injures but still finished a very solid 11-7 with a 2.92 ERA. He endured two separate stints on the injured list, the first time with inflammation under his right shoulder and the second, after making one return start, with a rhomboid strain.
In 17 starts dating to May 22 through the end of the season, Scherzer went 9-2 with a 2.44 ERA, 156 strikeouts, 19 walks and a .201 opponents average.
Entering that start on May 22, Scherzer ranked 25th in the National League in ERA at 3.72. Scherzer led all Major League Baseball pitchers in Fielding Independent Pitching (2.45) and ranked second in Wins Above Replacement (6.5). He went 8-0 with a 1.86 ERA in 12 starts from June 2 to Sept. 8 and had 114 strikeouts, 13 walks and a .179 opponents’ average during the winning streak.
Last year, he also became the first player since 1900 with multiple games with at least 10 strikeouts, a base hit and a stolen base. Scherzer was named National League Pitcher of the Month for June and National League Player of the Week for the final week of the month. He went 6-0 with a 1.00 ERA (5 ER/45.0 IP) in six starts during the month. He recorded 68 strikeouts against just five walks (13.6 SO/BB), including a 24 strikeouts-to-zero-walks stretch spanning his last two starts.
Scherzer became one of four pitchers in the Live Ball Era to record a 1.00 ERA and 68 strikeouts in a calendar month, joining Pedro Martinez (Sept./Oct. 1999), Roger Clemens (Aug. 1998) and Randy Johnson (June 1997).
On May 26, 2019, against the San Diego Padres, with a strikeout of Manuel Margot in the sixth inning, Scherzer recorded his 2,500 career strikeout. He became the 35th player in MLB history (4th active) to reach 2,500 strikeouts. In doing so, he became the third fastest pitcher to reach 2,500 strikeouts in both games (344 G) and innings (2,516.1 IP).
