Photo by Ed Delany of MMO
Max Scherzer took the mound against another team for the first time in blue and orange on Monday afternoon. Through one spring start, it already looks like he is going to be more than ready for Opening Day.
Scherzer was impressive in his first spring start for the Mets, giving up just one earned run on three hits, and striking out five in 72 pitches. His average fastball velocity came in at 93.7 MPH, topping out at 96.5 MPH.
In the bottom half of the first inning, Scherzer kicked things off against Jazz Chisholm, who was able to reach base with a bunt single. The 24-year-old middle infielder would then go on to steal second, immediately putting himself in scoring position.
Two batters later, first baseman Dominic Smith made an impressive stop on a hard grounder from Marlins outfielder Jesús Sánchez, with Scherzer getting over to cover first base in time for the out.
With two outs in the inning, newly-signed Miami outfielder Avisail Garcia would bring Chisholm home from third base with a bloop single to left field, scoring the first run of the game.
From that point on, it was smooth sailing for the right-handed pitcher. Scherzer pitched a one-two-three inning in the second, capped off by a strikeout of catcher Jacob Stallings.
The third inning was more of the same for the starter, getting Miguel Rojas and Chisholm to fly out before Garrett Cooper closed the book on the inning with a groundout to second base.
Scherzer did an excellent job of mixing pitches in his fourth inning of work. All three outs came via the strikeout, one with the curveball, one with the fastball, and the final punch out with a changeup. The final hit of the day against Scherzer was a double to left field from Jesús Aguilar.
The starter finished off his first outing as a Met with a clean fifth inning. Scherzer retired all three hitters in order, putting an end to a very promising start to spring.
“I just wanted to come in and fill up the zone. If you have a feel for the strike zone, you learn how to pitch around the strike zone. But you can’t do that until you know exactly and you can pour it in there, pitch and pitch,” he said.
The 37-year-old, who signed a three-year deal with the Mets in the offseason, is set to be the second starter in the rotation behind Jacob deGrom. Scherzer, along with newly-acquired Chris Bassitt, Taijuan Walker and Carlos Carrasco, will look to round out one of the more talented pitching staffs in all of baseball.
Following his start against the Marlins, Scherzer talked about his excitement to pitch in New York.
“I like a hostile environment. I’m a high adrenaline pitch, so it’s going to be fun to pitch a lot in that type of atmosphere,” he said.
In 30 starts with the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, Scherzer pitched to a record of 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA and a WHIP at 0.864. He will certainly be looking to put up similar numbers in his first season in New York.
