Should Nationals be worried about Scherzer's workload?
There's no denying that Max Scherzer is currently one of the best pitchers in baseball, but the Washington Nationals ace has been throwing a lot of innings lately, which raises questions about how long he'll be able to sustain his dominance.
In 18 starts in the first half of the season, Scherzer threw 132 innings, averaging 7 1/3 innings per start.
In addition to tossing three complete games, two of which were shutouts, the 30-year-old righty threw seven or more innings in 13 games.
"I'm fine with the workload," Scherzer said, per the Washington Post. "I've always said I'm built for 110 pitches, and I can go up to 120 pitches, even low 120 pitches if need be. It just takes a lot of work between the starts, and that's what I'm prepared to do and that's what I've been doing and I'm comfortable with it. I want the ball in that situation. That's what I work hard to be able to do and that's what you relish. As for workload, this is comfortable."
While Scherzer is currently on pace for a career-high 241 innings, he has been extremely efficient in his outings this season.
Boasting a ridiculous strikeout-to-walk ratio of 10.7 (150 strikeouts, 14 walks), Scherzer has averaged 14 pitches per inning, and notably only needed 106 pitches to complete his no-hitter.
Scherzer credits the improvement of his breaking balls for his efficiency.
"That's consistency with all my pitches but more importantly being able to throw the curveball and the slider for strikes a lot more consistently now," Scherzer said, "and I feel like that's another reason why I'm a lot more efficient, even in those late innings."
(h/t Washington Post)
