Max Scherzer has a Hall of Fame quality career. Now with the Toronto Blue Jays, the 40-year-old right-hander has accumulated a 73.0 war, scoring 216 wins and 133 ERA+ in his 18 major league seasons. In addition, his 3,408 strikeouts have been ranked 11th, and his resume also includes three CY Young awards, eight All-Star selections and a pair of World Series rings. Last summer, my famous colleague Jay Jaffe wrote his Cooperstown opportunity, calling Scherzer an “election lock.”
Let's go back to 2007, when Scherzer made his major debut a year after he ranked 11th in the Arizona Diamondbacks at the University of Missouri. The following spring, when Scherzer ranked fourth in the D-BACKS system American Baseball' 2008 Prospect Handbook Published. Fanggraphs' ranking and in-depth scout reports are not a thing yet.
What was Scherzer's 2008 American Baseball Does the scout report look like? And, how did he view this matter over the years? Want to find out, I've shared some BAWill Lingo wrote and asked Scherzer to respond.
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“Scherzer pitched for the independent Fort Worth Cats with the 11th pick in 2006 and stuck with it before he re-entered the draft pool.”
“Yes,” Scherzer replied. “Since you thought about it, the rules have changed since then, but when I was drafted by the Rattlesnakes… Actually, let's go back to pre-grazing. That season, my junior year, I slammed a door. I tried to stick out through it and develop biceps tendinitis. It scared a lot of teams.
I was back at the end of the year and performed well, so I took the draft and said I was still looking for a senior racer contract. At that time, you can still sign a major league contract from the draft, and that's the team I told me I was looking for. Arizona recruited me under those disguises, but then I would tell me. I let them know that I won't be in the 11th Challenge.
“They said no. I had this option to go back to school, but when I talked to Scott [Boras]he said: “Let's go on an independent ball route.” He and Luke Hochevar did. 1 Select the previous year and it has been resolved. Dallas is a great location for me, so I took the opportunity. I trained throughout the offseason, simulated alone, built, got there, and became the benefit of being the Fort Worth Cat. Then I ended the signature. Five minutes away [May 30, 2007] Deadline. Arizona gave me a major league contract. ”
“Scherzer’s fastball can outperform the batsmen and arrive in the mid-90s with the best move.”
“Yes, no,” Scherzer said of the accuracy of the line. “In the mid-90s, it was right, but I never threw down a sinker. I never threw a guy with two; I always had four people. They used to say, 'He has an invisible fastball.' Now they would say, 'He has a high spin fastball.' ”
“What rings me is that I put too much effort in delivery and I have this head. I remember always saying, ‘No, I bent my head to get the ball up.’ Now, we put everything together.
“Although he is using command and aircraft, his slider could be a plus too.”
“Yes, that's accurate,” Xie Ce said. “My sliders are very inconsistent. Actually, when I get to the majors, my changes are probably ahead of my sliders. I have a lot more feeling about it. Sometimes I throw good sliders, but I get bigger when it’s bigger, or it’s bigger… It’s just a very inconsistent course. It wasn’t until 2012 that I consolidated my SLIDE.
“Some scouts saw Scherzer as a starter mid-season and wondered about fuss. His fastball sat in the 89-93 range, and his overall stuff, command, feeling and delivery all caused problems.”
“Yes,” the correct answer. “When I doubled the double A with the Rattlers, they got rid of what I did in college. They didn't believe in weightlifting. That summer, it was a mid-90s fastball, but it was down to 89-93. I was just the same guy.
“Then they saw him ease him in the Arizona Fall League, who was a different pitcher, touching the official view of 98 mph.
“So, Arizona started to be like 'no, you're a relief guy,'” Scherzer recalled. “I was like, 'No, I just had to lift it up.' I could put 98-99 in 100 games.
“If he moves into the bullpen, he can help immediately in the major leagues and have something pure to end up closing the game.”
“It's always fascinating, imagine I'm getting closer,” Scherzer said. “In a way, it's the fact. The only reason I've never been completely entertained is because I know I can get my speed deep into the game. Again, I just need my weight lifting plan so that I'm strong enough to do that. When I'm traded to Detroit,” he said. [in December 2009]they basically said, “Yes, go do your program.” From there, I was able to continue to develop. To this day, weightlifting is still part of my daily routine. I don't want to be in the training room, I want to go to the weight room. ”
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Previous “Old Scout Report Revisit” interviews can be found through the following links: Cody Bellinger, Matthew Boyd, Dylan Scease, Matt Chapman, Erick Fedde, Randal Grichuk, Ian Happ, Jeff Hoffman, Matthew Liberatore.
