Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Despite the sour finish to both his own and the team’s season in 2022, it’s hard to call Max Scherzer’s first season in Queens anything but a rousing success. The three-time Cy Young Award winner finished with a career-low 2.29 ERA and 169 ERA+ in 145.1 IP while finishing the season at 38-years-old. Scherzer also brought a strong presence to the Mets clubhouse. Along with NL Manager of the Year Buck Showalter, Scherzer had an undeniable hand in helping turn the Mets into a respected, well-run team during their 101-win season.
If there were any trepidations Scherzer had about signing in New York ahead of the 3-year, $130 million contract he signed in the 2021 offseason, it sounds like those fears went away pretty quickly. During an appearance on The New York Post’s “The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman” podcast, Scherzer described the special vibe of the Mets clubhouse last season.
“I got there and fell in love immediately”, Scherzer said. “Especially with Billy and Buck in charge, I thought they were great in what they were able to do. I fell in love with the team a lot quicker than I even thought I was going to. Really good dudes, and we had a really good clubhouse. It didn’t feel like we had any bad eggs, and when you have that kind of chemistry that’s when you go out there and you win.”
Scherzer also touched on his reaction to seeing the Philadelphia Phillies, a team the Mets went 14-5 against in 2022, go on a surprise run to the World Series despite finishing in third in the NL East behind the Mets and the Atlanta Braves.
“We faced that Phillies team a lot, and even though we had some success against them, we also recognized they were a team that could do damage in the postseason. They had the pitching, they had some bullpen, they had a lineup that could slug … I’m actually kind of happy the NL East keeps putting teams in the World Series … I look at it as the NL East keeps producing great ballclubs.”
The Mets, Braves, and Phillies will likely do battle again for NL East superiority in 2023, and Scherzer will play a huge part in whatever success the Mets have. If Mets GM Billy Eppler and the rest of the front office are able to put together a clubhouse with nearly the same amount of chemistry and talent as they had in the 2022 season, it will put the team in a great position for a return trip to the playoffs.
