Absolutely dominant.
There's no better way to describe Max Scherzer on the mound this season.
After throwing a one-hit, complete-game shutout with 16 strikeouts against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 14, Scherzer tossed a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates six days later. If it wasn't for him hitting the last batter he faced, Scherzer would have had a perfect game.
And his last two starts are just a sampling of the 30-year-old right-hander's dominance this season.
A look at Scherzer's stats show that he's leading Major League Baseball in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.8), which is more than twice his rate from last season. If those numbers aren't mind-numbing enough for you, delving deeper into Scherzer's stats also show his mastery of the strike zone, with an amazing 71 percent of his pitches being thrown for strikes this season.
As this chart by ESPN Stats & Info shows, Scherzer is only allowing hitters to muster an anemic .193 batting average against him, ranking top in the majors. Hitters' slugging and line-drive percentage don't fare that well against him, either.
Part of Scherzer's success on the mound this season can be attributed to the fact that he's working smarter, not harder, pinpointing his pitches and painting corners with every throw. As of Friday afternoon (June 26), he's only averaging 3.68 pitches per batter-compared to 4.02 last season-and that has allowed him to last an average of 7 1/3 innings per start (tops in the majors as well).
Considering that the Philadelphia Phillies have only hit .173 against Scherzer this season and are last in the MLB in total runs, could easily spell another dominant start for Max on Friday night.
Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page.
