Washington Nationals: Top Five Players of 2016 Season
By Ron Juckett
MAX SCHERZER
20-7 W-L, 2.96 ERA, 284 K, 0.968 WHIP, 6.2 WAR
The Washington Nationals brought in Max Scherzer last year to be their ace. With the numbers listed above, he did that and more. If he keeps pumping out those stats, he is destined for Cooperstown.
For the second time, he won 20. Four years in a row, he fanned over 250, winning the first strikeout title of his career. Three times out of the last four, his WHIP was under 1.000. Although his control was not as sharp as 2015, his 5.07 K/BB ratio led the league.
With Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers on the shelf for 60-days, it is hard to see how Scherzer does not win the Cy Young. (Yes, Cubs fans will try.)
For his best game this year, would you believe it was not his 20-strikeout gem against his old club, the Detroit Tigers? His game score that night was 87.
On August 25, as part of an interleague home-and-home against the Baltimore Orioles, Scherzer was lights out. In eight innings, he allowed two hits and fanned 10. The rest of his pitching line is full of zero’s, leading to his 14th win of the year and a game score of 88.
Seven times this year, Scherzer walked nobody. Thirteen times, he registered double-digit strikeouts. An All-Star, his win and strikeout total captured two-thirds of the NL pitching triple crown and our Player of the Year.