Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Max Scherzer took the mound for the Mets on Wednesday in an exhibition game against Nicaragua as teams prepare for the World Baseball Classic. While the Nicaragua lineup was not filled with All-Stars like some other lineups will be in the WBC, nearly every hitter in the lineup had played Minor League Baseball in the last three years. Scherzer was dominant in his three-plus innings of work, as he allowed just one hit and one walk while recording strikeouts for all nine outs he recorded on the night.

Scherzer struck out the first three batters he faced on the night before Cheslor Cuthbert came to the plate to lead off the second inning. The former Kansas City Royal (and Mets’ minor leaguer) turned on a fastball and homered for the only hit Scherzer would allow on the night. After another strikeout, back-to-back hitters reached base on errors. Scherzer struck out the next two Nicaraguan hitters to get out of the jam, then he struck out the side again in the third to give him five consecutive strikeouts. The Mets’ right-hander took the mound to start the fourth and face Cuthbert again, but lost him to a walk to put an end to his outing.

Mad Max’s final line: 3+ IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K.

Aside from Cuthbert, Scherzer faced 11 batters with only two balls put in play resulting in errors on the infield. The Nicaraguan team did make him work for his outs, as they fouled off 12 two-strike pitches, but the future Hall-of-Famer was too much for them to handle.

With exactly three weeks remaining until Opening Day, it has still not been determined if Scherzer or his co-ace Justin Verlander will be on the mound for the season’s first game. While a strong outing against an inferior opponent in Nicaragua may not be the determining factor in Buck Showalter‘s decision, it is an encouraging sign to see that Scherzer is on his game early in spring.