Max Scherzer, aged 38, surrendered 4 homers and 7 runs in less than five innings in an unfortunate game against the Padres on 7th October 2022, Friday evening at Citi Field.
The Mets have established baseball wizard Max Scherzer as the biggest paid player, on an annual incentive, in baseball record by offering him a 3-year $130 million deal. He has proven to be pretty well worthy of the position. Having missed up to 9 weeks of the regular season due to his injuries, Scherzer has demonstrated that he is quite capable on the mound. He has also progressed in the clubhouse and made himself to be a key player for the team ever since 2016 when he led them to their very first playoff appearance.
Stacked with the Game 1 assignment on the 7th of October, in the Mets’ best-of-three wild-card series against the San Diego Padres, the Mets and Scherzer lost. In possibly his worst postseason start the Mets lost against the Padres, 7-1. Following the 5th inning, Scherzer was received with boos from the crowd at Citi Field. Scherzer stated that he was disappointed as Baseball can take a person to the highest of highs as well as the lowest of lows and this was one of his lowest of lows so far.
Scherzer explained that he was uncertain whether his beginnings and ends this season were due to his injury and had weakened his pitching. His beginning 2 starts some 2 weeks ago were favorable, despite his strain in September and then, he claimed that the wheels fell off and that he didn’t know why. He claimed that his fastball grip and direction were off when facing off against the Padres.
The future of the Mets’ season now rests with Jacob deGrom, who is all set to play Game 2 on Saturday taking place at Citi field. Manager Buck Showalter declared this decision in an attempt to avoid elimination. The stakes are high and this will also be deGrom’s first postseason beginning since Game 2 of the 2015 world series where they faced off against the Kansas City Royals. DeGrom stated that he was excited since it was his first pitching postseason in 7 years and that he was excited because of Citi Field and also that he was going to go out and execute it to the best of his abilities. He stated that the pressure of the Mets’ season survival hasn’t bothered him.
Jacob spoke about how he missed half a year and that his fellow teammates did a great job holding it down while Max and he missed some time. He also said that he wanted to contribute as much as he could and it is a goal of his to keep things going and eventually pass the torch to Chris Bassitt.
DeGrom earlier had to handle blister issues while playing in his final 2 onsets of the regular season, after which he vacated his last start against the Atlanta Braves after 86 pitches over six innings. The case initially arose with his middle finger injured during his prior arrival versus the Oakland Athletics on September 24th. He also had a shoulder injury earlier this year.
DeGrom played down the severity of his injuries when questioned about it and stated that his fingers feel fine and that he could have progressed further against Atlanta but took a step back due to precautions and upcoming matches. He claimed that the dead skin had peeled away and that it was feeling fine.
The Mets, who had earlier earned the top wild-card spot of three by losing their division, the National League East, to the Atlanta Braves in the closing days of the regular season, are now facing elimination. They have placed their hopes and bets on Jacob, to extend their season, but the current situation does not look promising. Perhaps things will become clearer with the upcoming match and we have to stay tuned.
