As Verlander hangs up cleats, he and Scherzer have one last matter to settle
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TORONTO -- The sun is setting on two of this era’s greatest pitchers. Justin Verlander threw the final pitch of his remarkable career on Saturday afternoon in Detroit, and while Max Scherzer isn’t ready to make a decision just yet, he’ll take the mound Sunday in Toronto knowing it could be his last time.
These two have combined for 490 wins, 6,617 1/3 innings and six Cy Young Awards over 40 years of big league experience. So many of those years were spent jockeying for the title of the best pitcher in baseball, including the five years they spent together in Detroit.
From 2010-14, Verlander and Scherzer were part of those great Tigers teams together, Verlander winning his MVP and first Cy Young in ‘11 before Scherzer won his first Cy Young in ‘13. Their final season together, in ‘14, Verlander was once again the Tigers’ Opening Day starter and Scherzer pitched right behind him in Game 2.
All these years later, they still can’t escape one another. After Verlander struck out six batters over 5 1/3 innings in the final start of his career Saturday, he’s got a 10-strikeout lead on Scherzer on the all-time leaderboard.
MLB all-time strikeout leaders:
8. Justin Verlander (3,560)
9. Max Scherzer (3,550)
Over the past couple of weeks, as Verlander decided to make one final start and the Blue Jays left the door cracked open to Scherzer pitching on the final day of the season, this leaderboard has been everywhere. Does Verlander just want to give himself a better shot at staying ahead of his old teammate? Does Scherzer want to empty the tank to catch him?
Neither of the expected future Hall of Famers seem to care, or at least they’re not saying it out loud.
“Look, [that's] never why I played. I don't pitch for strikeouts,” Verlander said. “I love the volume. It was never on my mind … It seems to be more of a narrative that's naturally presenting itself. It has nothing to do with why I'm going out there to pitch. We're both naturally competitive people, and I don't want to speak for Max, but I'm sure that's not why he's taking the ball either. We want to pitch when we can, and that's that.”
Verlander knows his old teammate well. On Saturday afternoon, Scherzer met with the media just minutes before Verlander took the mound down in Detroit and shared that he wasn’t decided on his future yet, but he wasn’t biting on the idea he was still chasing Verlander.
“That has nothing to do with it,” Scherzer said, grinning. “Everybody’s going to make a big deal about it, but that’s not the motivation to pitch tomorrow. It’s about competing and having fun.”
Scherzer is a baseball nut, though, who holds a deep appreciation for its history. Even when he passed Walter Johnson to move into the top 10 earlier this year, he spoke at length about the man he’d just passed, who last pitched in the Major Leagues in 1927. This means something to Scherzer, so he can at least recognize how special this tie is between him and Verlander.
“It’s funny how that’s unfolding,” Scherzer said. “Here we are, all these years later, we’re neck-and-neck in that regard. I hope he goes out there and strikes out the world today.”
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Hip and hamstring injuries have kept Verlander on the IL all season until Saturday, while Scherzer has dealt with thumb, forearm, back and ankle injuries this season. Scherzer is 42 and Verlander is 43, and these things tend to happen when you pitch this long.
“I’ve texted him over the past day,” Scherzer said. “I know he’s definitely at his end, and I’m definitely looking forward to going out there and seeing him pitch. For everything he’s done in the game and accomplished, it’s going to be a big moment for him. I really enjoyed being able to watch him get back out there one more time.”
Perhaps Sunday is Scherzer’s “one more time”, and in five years, they’ll be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame together. It still feels like the ultra-competitive Scherzer has one more season left in him, though, and maybe a couple more names to pass on that all-time strikeout list.
Whichever order these names end up in, Verlander and Scherzer belong side by side. For the better part of the past two decades, that’s where they’ve been.