Max Scherzer Has Changed Along With the Game (But He Hasn’t Changed Much)

Max Scherzer was 26 years old and pitching for the Tigers when I first interviewed him. Thirteen seasons and three Cy Young awards later, he’s taking the mound for the Rangers, the sixth team he’s played for in what has been an illustrious career. Scherzer’s accolades include eight All-Star berths, and just this week, he moved into 11th place on MLB’s all-time strikeout list. Already at 72.0 WAR, he has a Hall of Fame plaque in his future.

In our initial interview, which ran on today’s date back in 2010, Scherzer described himself as “a power pitcher” and “a very mathematic guy” who appreciated, but didn’t overly rely on, analytics available at that time. How does the veteran right-hander approach his craft all these years later, and how has he evolved along the way? I caught up with him to address those questions shortly before he was dealt from the Mets to the Rangers at the August trade deadline.

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David Laurila: We talked pitching in 2010. How differently do think about your craft 13 years later?

Max Scherzer: “Way different, but the game is also way different. In 2010, it was much more based on what the human eye can see, what’s going on in the field, and listening to the pro scouts. We were understanding some of the numbers back then, but nowhere near what it has blossomed into. It’s almost the inverse now. In 2023, so much of the game is just number, number, number, number, number. I actually think it’s gone too far, that we’ve forgotten some of the human aspects that go into baseball. It’s become, ‘Follow the numbers, they have to be right.’ But no. There is actually a human component that doesn’t get enough credit.”

Laurila: Can you elaborate on that?

Scherzer: “There are times where what you’re seeing on the field matters more than what the data says. There are times to execute based on what you see. For me, that’s been a maturation process over the course of my career.

“I’ve evolved in what I’m looking for and what I’m trying to ascertain. I’m always trying to figure out what I actually want to know on the mound. There is a limit to how much thought you can have about the hitter before you start taking away from yourself. There is a limit to how much bandwidth… like, you want to know what the hitter hits and what he doesn’t hit, but you also need to know what you do well. You need to understand, ‘When I execute this pitch, that’s when I’m at my best,’ and ‘When I put these sequences together, that’s when I’m at my best.’ As much as you want to scout your opponents, scouting yourself is just as important.”

Laurila: The opposing team is obviously going to know your strengths and your tendencies.

Scherzer: “Yes. The hitters are keying off of what you do. I’ve been on plenty of teams now, and the hitting coaches… I don’t want to say they’re all the same, but they’re looking at what you do and they’re evolving with you. You’ve got to be cognizant of that. If a guy hits .100 on changeups but he knows you’re going to throw one, then he’s going to look for it and he’s going hit it. Hitters pick up tendencies, so you can’t just keep doing the same thing over and over.”

Laurila: What you’re throwing in a certain count, or a given situation, can also vary by how well a pitch has been working, right? For instance, your slider might be moving less that usual that day and maybe in recent starts as well.

Scherzer: “Pitch movement — the shapes, the spin rates, the breaks — are good to look at, but I focus more on how I’m using and locating a pitch. To me, that often explains more than the data does. Everything is with a grain of salt now.”

Laurila: Which data do you look at after starts?

Scherzer: “The first question I always ask our data people, I find this funny, is, ‘What was my first-pitch strikes?’ I want to know how I attacked. I mean, you can have all the data in the world, but if you’re not attacking the zone, it doesn’t matter. You can throw 110 [mph], but if you don’t throw strikes, it really doesn’t matter. I always hold myself accountable to how many first-pitch strikes I’m throwing.”

Laurila: I assume you also want to know the quality-of-contact on your first-pitch strikes.

Scherzer: “Let’s say, I’m just using quick numbers here, I faced 25 batters and threw 18 first-pitch strikes. There will be some contact, but if it comes from three of those 18 batters, I’ll know what happened. I can already tell the story of why, in those situations, they made contact. I’ll also know whether I was OK with that or not.

“Were they looking for the fastball? Were they looking for offspeed? Was I trying to execute in the zone or potentially trying to execute out of the zone? And where did they hit the ball? Was it hard, soft, pulled, oppo? There are a lot of things you can use to describe the situation and decide if you were OK with it. I mean, I might have a high pitch count through three innings and want contact for a first-pitch out. The context of the game impacts what you’re doing.”

Laurila: How much of what you’ve said to this point in our conversation would differ from your thought process 13 years ago?

Scherzer: “That’s a good question. The basics are pretty much the same. Work ahead in the count. Throw strikes. Strike ‘em out. Don’t walk ‘em. Keep it in the ballpark. Pretty much what FIP tries to tell you. That basic formula still applies today.”

Laurila: In other words, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Scherzer: “Correct. The amount of data in the game has changed, but how I think hasn’t really changed.”

Laurila: What about the quality of your stuff? Has that changed?

Scherzer: “I mean, that’s changed a lot. My average velocity is pretty much the same, but my top end is definitely different. I don’t have 99 anymore. Every now and then you might see a 96, and maybe I’ll stick in a 97, but I’m basically still pitching at 94 miles per hour.”

Laurila: Not having the same top-end velocity is a sign that you’re past your physical peak, but what about your mental peak? Given your age and experience, I assume you’re already there, and maybe have been for a few years?

Scherzer: “No. Why would I be? It never ends. And the physical ability is still there. I still feel like I can go out there and get guys out at a very high level. I still have the ability to win ballgames and be a part of a championship ball club. In those respects, nothing has changed.”