The “other” All-Star Game starting pitcher tonight isn’t too shabby.
With this being New York and with Matt Harvey capable of leading mayoral polls if he ran for election, most of the attention yesterday focused on the young Mets ace, who fielded more questions throughout the day than a mother of 5-year-old triplets.
Max Scherzer was asked one question in the public session.
There weren’t too many inquiring about Scherzer, who started 13-0 — the first pitcher to do so since Roger Clemens in 1986 — before losing to the Rangers on Saturday.
“He’s in New York. That’s the way it goes sometimes,” said Scherzer, whose 152 strikeouts are second in the majors, of Harvey, who has 147. “I’m starting the game, so I really don’t care.”
When Jim Leyland, Scherzer’s Tigers and All-Star manager, revealed his starting selection, he said, “13-1, Max Scherzer, and I don’t think I need to explain anything more than that.”
No arguments from guys who have faced the right-hander.
“He’s always been at the very top for me whenever I’ve stepped into the batter’s box,” Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy said. “Things haven’t changed. Maybe he’s being more consistent and all the other hitters are seeing what I saw from the first.”
Yankees All-Star Robinson Cano called Scherzer “outstanding” and noted his evolution as a pitcher in the past few years.
“He’s controlling all his pitches, throwing the ball where he wants — unbelievable,” Cano said. “When he first came up, you could make him throw a lot of pitches early. Now he goes deeper in the game because he throws all his pitches for strikes.”
Scherzer came to the Tigers as part of the 2009 three-team trade with the Yankees and Diamondbacks that included Curtis Granderson. The Tigers always had this thing for power arms.
“When he first came up, like most guys, he was a hard thrower,” Tigers teammate Justin Verlander said. “And he was that: a thrower. He’s evolved and matured as a pitcher, really learned his mechanics and is able to repeat his delivery.”
Another Tigers teammate, Prince Fielder, gave the simplest response to what makes Scherzer so good now.
“People aren’t hitting him,” Fielder said.
Scherzer waves off credit for his terrific start. He’s cut down on walks and he’s gone deeper in games. But all the wins? Credit the Tigers.
“For me, the streak I was on was kind of a freaky stat because our team was playing so well,” Scherzer said. “Every time I pitched, I got great support.”
It didn’t hurt that the other team usually didn’t score much, either.
“What he’s doing this year is special,” Royals outfielder Alex Gordon said. “Throwing his slider, change and fastball and locating them where he wants is a big part of it. Years past, I could almost just sit on his fastball. It was still overpowering, but when you’re looking for one pitch, it’s a lot easier than when he’s got everything working like he does right now.”