The first few weeks of the 2023 MLB season were rough for New York Mets ace Max Scherzer.
He had some injury scares with his shoulder in April and then with his neck in May, and he was suspended in a controversial foreign substance episode.
His numbers were not ideal in the first month of the year.
But time passed, he began feeling healthier, and when you give good health to a future Hall-of-Famer, he will almost surely perform as one.
Scherzer started settling down, his ERA began to decrease, and after another dominating outing on Thursday against the Philadelphia Phillies, it is all the way down to 3.21.
He is starting to look like the pitcher who earns the most money per year in the whole league, at $43.3 million.
In fact, he has been unhittable in his last four outings.
Max Scherzer in his last four starts:
25.0 IP, 1.03 ERA, 4 BB, 28 K 🔥 pic.twitter.com/sOgWyNnhcg
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 1, 2023
A 1.03 ERA is difficult to achieve in any sample, but doing it for 25 frames is outstanding.
Of course, no one should be surprised: despite lingering lat issues, he finished with a brilliant 2.29 ERA last year.
Scherzer is showing that while his fastball might not flirt with 100 mph anymore, his stuff is as good as ever and, coupled with his elite command, he can still not only get MLB hitters out but dominate them as well.
Provided he remains in one piece for the rest of the year, his ERA should finish awfully close to last year’s number.
That’s incredible, and even more if we consider he is 38 years old.
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