Womack: Max Scherzer on Hall of Fame pace, but far from a cinch

From SABR member Graham Womack at The Sporting News on June 22, 2017:

The past several seasons have been something of a renaissance for Max Scherzer.

The 32-year-old Nationals ace, who’s won two Cy Young awards since 2013 and recently notched his 2,000th strikeout, looks to be in the midst of another fine season. He’s jumped out to an 8-5 record with a National League-best 2.09 ERA while his Nationals lead the NL East.

On Wednesday, Scherzer took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Marlins, which prompted a beat writer to point out that Scherzer’s actually taken no-hitters at least six innings in 13.4 percent of his starts with the Nationals. Scherzer’s been so good, it didn’t seem like that outlandish of a stat. It was just one more thing for a pitcher at his peak.

Scherzer, who didn’t win his first game until two months before his 25th birthday, is starting to look like he has a decent chance at the Hall of Fame. At 133 wins as of this writing, he should easily top 200 barring injury, with 250 a reasonable possibility. Historically, 200 wins has more or less been the low bar to clear for Hall of Fame pitchers. At 250 wins, enshrinement becomes increasingly certain, though there are some exceptions.

Read the full article here: http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/news/max-scherzer-stats-hall-of-fame-case-washington-nationals/q7eeouctiyh21xq8jwsakz3d5



Originally published: June 22, 2017. Last Updated: June 22, 2017.