During his introductory press conference with the New York Mets, Max Scherzer took the opportunity to take a parting shot at the team that traded for him in 2021. Scherzer attributes his season-ending arm fatigue to the Dodgers and how they used him. His actual usage tells a different story.

Max Scherzer Faults Dodgers for Season’s End

He said that the way the Dodgers used him down the stretch of the 2021 season caused his “dead arm” injury, which led to him missing his final start of the year.

When asked about the season-ending “dead arm” injury he experienced last year, Scherzer said that his “limited workload” with the Dodgers was to blame.

Of course pitchers need to use their arm in order to remain healthy. If Scherzer says a high workload is best for his health, I’m not going to argue against him.

Is There Any Truth to This?

The issue that Dodgers fans are taking with his statement comes from the comparisons between the 2021 and 2019 seasons. Scherzer expressed that “being pushed with the Nationals made him capable of going more often in 2019.”

However, upon reviewing the facts, this is a dubious claim.

In Scherzer’s 2019 regular season with the Nationals, he started 27 games and threw 172.1 innings. In 2021, between the Nationals and the Dodgers, Scherzer started 30 games and threw 179.1 innings, seeing increases in both categories. While with the Dodgers, Scherzer averaged over six innings per start.

Perhaps he’s referring to pitch count? While the Dodgers are among the analytical teams notorious for limiting a pitcher’s workload, this wasn’t the case for Scherzer. In 2019, Scherzer’s average pitch count with the Nationals was 102. With the Dodgers, subtracting the games in which Scherzer left early for issues beyond his control (a rain delay against the Phillies and a hamstring injury against the Braves), his average pitch count was 100.

There’s another confusing aspect of Scherzer’s claim: the similarities of his performances in the 2019 and 2021 postseasons. In 2019, Scherzer helped the Nationals win their first World Series Championship with a 2.40 postseason ERA. He actually improved his playoff ERA in 2021, posting a 2.16 with the Dodgers. Scherzer also had to miss a game in the 2019 World Series with an injury concern. He was able to come back in Game 7, but was not afforded the same opportunity in 2021. The Dodgers lost in Game 6 when Walker Buehler had to pitch on short rest to cover the ailing Scherzer.

Why Make This Claim?

It makes sense that Scherzer would want to alleviate any concerns from his new fan base, considering he just set a new record for AAV ($130 million over 3 years for an AAV of $43.3). Making that kind of commitment to a 37 year old pitcher with over 2500 career innings pitched certainly has risks. And it can’t be reassuring that Scherzer’s previous season ended early due to arm fatigue.

But Scherzer blaming the Dodgers and their usage of the ace seems disingenuous, especially when looking at the facts of his usage.

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