Rick Osentoski- USA TODAY Sports
You can finally add Max Scherzer to the list of 20-game winners in a season.
Scherzer, who hadn’t had a win since August 24, finally notched that all-important 20th win that will be at the front of his argument to win AL Cy Young. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but it got the job done for the Detroit Tigers, who desperately needed Scherzer to get back to bring the unstoppable ace he was for 75 percent of the season.
You could sense that Scherzer was somewhat over-pitching maybe because of the constant talk and worry that he wouldn’t reach that 20-game win mark. Now with that in the rear view mirror, Scherzer will be able to move forward and hopefully making his next start a quality one so that the Tigers can have that ace starter to count on in October.
There’s no doubt the Tigers have the best no. 2-4 pitchers you could ask for, but they need Max Scherzer to be that headline guy.
Scherzer needed to have that 20th win to be a serious contender in this AL Cy Young race. Yes, wins are somewhat fluky, but it is going to stand out when the voters review each pitcher’s resume. His next start needs to improve upon this one not only for the Cy Young race, but for his confidence going into the postseason. For tonight at least, Scherzer’s confidence seemed to be back.
