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Max Scherzer

2026
Blue Jays· RHP · throws R· 84.2 IP· 5.74 ERA· 1.33 WHIP· 364 batters faced
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Grade

His grade shows how good he has been, and at what.
Fbetter than 27% of qualified pitchers at limiting bases
StarterStill Searching

Below league average across the board.

Scherzer allows more bases than most pitchers

The simulator expects him to allow 0.467 bases per batter faced, better than 27% of qualified pitchers. His best skill is limiting hard contact (90th percentile). His weakest skill is limiting home runs (17th percentile).

His grade rests on 364 batters faced, with data through 2026-09-27.

How to read this chart
Each spoke is a skill estimate adjusted for sample size, not a raw season stat, and farther out is better. A ↓ marks a stat where a lower number is better, and its spoke is flipped so farther out still means better. The middle ring marks the league median and the outer ring the league best. Percentiles compare him with 517 qualified pitchers, those with 100+ batters faced, starters and relievers together.

Plays like…

Each of these pitchers shares his archetype and sits closest to him in xEB/PA. Pick one to see him side by side with Max Scherzer.

Robbie RayPadresAlan RangelPhilliesChad PatrickBrewersBlade TidwellGiants

Pitcher type

This map shows what kind of pitcher he is, next to the league.

Pitcher type

He lands in the “Limits hard contact, pitches to contact” corner of the map.

League best:K% − BB% Jacob Misiorowski (26.8%)Hard-hit% allowed Blake Snell (29.0%)

How to read this chart
Two skills separate pitching styles: strikeout rate minus walk rate, where higher is better, and hard-hit rate allowed, where lower is better. The hard-hit axis is flipped, so the best corner is the top right. Each dot is a pitcher with 80+ batters faced this season, sized by batters faced. The dashed lines are the league median on each skill, and the league best on each is named above the chart. Click any dot to open that pitcher's page.
 Max ScherzerLeague medianPercentile
Bases per ball in play(lower = better).531.527—
Walk rate(lower = better)10%9%49th
Strikeout rate(higher = better)20%22%27th

A higher percentile is better, and the 99th is the top of the league.

Arsenal

These cards show what he throws and what each pitch does.

Max Scherzer leans on his four-seam fastball (47% of pitches). His best pitch has been the four-seam fastball, saving 1.0 bases per 100 thrown against league average.

Pitch mix & swing-and-miss

+41 bases better than a replacement arm this season

He allowed about 173 estimated bases, against a replacement arm's 213 over the same batters faced.

Replacement level is per-batter and can't be split by pitch type, so the bars below use league average.

All pitches

He cost 9.8 bases against league average across 1,461 pitches, or 0.7 per 100 pitches.

Four-Seam Fastball
47%
92.9 mph · RHP median 95.1
19% whiffs · Lg median 21%
saved 1.0 per 1006.7 total
Slider
19%
85.6 mph · RHP median 86.9
29% whiffs · Lg median 33%
cost 4.5 per 10012.2 total
Changeup
16%
83.9 mph · RHP median 87.1
18% whiffs · Lg median 30%
saved 0.4 per 1000.8 total
Curveball
15%
74.5 mph · RHP median 81.2
26% whiffs · Lg median 29%
saved 0.3 per 1000.7 total
Cutter
4%
87.5 mph · RHP median 90.1
10% whiffs · Lg median 22%
cost 10.8 per 1005.8 total
How to read this chart
Each row is a pitch he throws at least 3% of the time, from pitch tracking in the regular season. The bar is how often he throws it, then its average velocity and its whiff rate, the share of swings that miss. Beside the velocity and the whiff rate is the median for that pitch, among pitchers of his hand for velocity and across the league for whiffs. More whiffs are better for a pitcher, while usage and velocity describe how he pitches. The Bases vs average bars score each pitch against a league-average pitch in the same count, and a bar to the left (saved) is better.

Mix by batter side

Four-Seam Fastball
47% vs LHH · RHP median 40%
47% vs RHH · RHP median 33%
Slider
10% vs LHH · RHP median 20%
34% vs RHH · RHP median 30%
Changeup
21% vs LHH · RHP median 30%
6% vs RHH · RHP median 12%
Curveball
16% vs LHH · RHP median 18%
12% vs RHH · RHP median 10%
How to read this chart
Each row shows how often he throws a pitch to left-handed hitters (LHH) and right-handed hitters (RHH), next to the median for pitchers of his hand (RHP median). Medians come from right-handed pitchers who throw that pitch at least 3% of the time. Between 96 and 384 of them qualify, depending on the pitch. A mix is a plan, so a higher or lower share is neither better nor worse. Overall results by batter side are under Platoon splits.

Max Scherzer's pitch movement, 2026

3 of his 5 pitches have moved 2+ inches from their early-season shapes.

The verdict above compares each pitch with his own early-season outings in 2026, not with other pitchers, after taking out the league-wide drift in break.

Max Scherzer's pitch movement, 2026-12012-12012in← glove sidearm side →more risemore drop
Four-Seam FastballFF
Rise 16.0 in
+0.3 vs Lg median
Break 8.7 in
+1.0 vs Lg median
Vs. early season steady
SliderSL
Rise 1.6 in
−0.2 vs Lg median
Break −3.3 in
+0.4 vs Lg median
Vs. early season changed
ChangeupCH
Rise 3.4 in
−0.7 vs Lg median
Break 14.2 in
0.0 vs Lg median
Vs. early season steady
CurveballCU
Rise −8.4 in
+2.1 vs Lg median
Break −14.3 in
−5.7 vs Lg median
Vs. early season changed
CutterFC
Rise 7.2 in
−0.5 vs Lg median
Break −3.4 in
−1.3 vs Lg median
Vs. early season changed
Early season → nowLg medianNormal wobble around the dot
How to read this chart
Each dot is a pitch's current break in inches, averaged over his latest outings. Higher is more rise and further right is more arm-side break, and neither is better or worse. The faint trail runs from his early-season outings to the dot, and the soft halo shows how far normal noise can move it. League median is the small hollow ring, and a pitch marked * has none because too few pitchers throw it. The “changed” verdict removes a league-wide drift that the trail still shows, so a long trail can read as steady. The by-appearance chart below has the exact dates. More on the About page

By appearance

These charts follow his velocity, movement and mix from outing to outing.

These charts follow his velocity, movement and pitch mix one outing at a time, and each pitch keeps the same color in every chart. The velocity and movement charts also shade the middle of the league for scale.

Platoon splits

This section splits his results against lefties and righties.

Platoon splits (EB/PA allowed)

He handles righty bats better than lefty bats, by 0.042 EB/PA allowed.

50% probable range: +0.034 to +0.050

vs LHB232 PA0.483

vs LHB: shrunk estimate 0.483 EB/PA, 50% probable range 0.464 to 0.500, based on 232 plate appearances. Raw (unshrunk) rate: 0.501 EB/PA. League median vs LHB: 0.451 EB/PA.

vs RHB133 PA0.441

vs RHB: shrunk estimate 0.441 EB/PA, 50% probable range 0.423 to 0.459, based on 133 plate appearances. Raw (unshrunk) rate: 0.439 EB/PA. League median vs RHB: 0.435 EB/PA.

0.4130.4380.4620.4860.510
← betterworse →
Below league medianAbove50% probable rangeHis raw rateMiddle half of the league

His split is about typical for a righty arm (median 0.042). He allows more than the league median against both sides.

How to read this chart
  • Each dot is his estimate against that side, with its 50% probable range as the bar. These are bases allowed, so lower is better.
  • The diamond is his raw rate, which small samples make noisy, so the simulator pulls the dot toward a more trustworthy value.
  • The dashed tick is the league median, and the shaded strip is the middle half of pitchers with 100 or more batters faced.
  • The two splits average back to his modeled overall EB/PA allowed, not the xEB/PA headline.
  • Tap or hover a mark for its number. LHB and RHB are left- and right-handed batters. More on the About page

Contact allowed

These cards show what hitters do when they make contact.

Batters go to the pull side off him most often, and that's also where they do the most damage.

Pull side and opposite field depend on which side each batter hits from, so this pools every hitter he faced.

Batted balls allowed

Every ball hit off Max Scherzer this season is drawn where it landed.
hit · out
EBlowhigh
vs Hunter GoodmanHome run
111 mph · 29° · worth 3.9 bases
03/31 vs Rockies
vs Teoscar HernándezHome run
102 mph · 29° · worth 3.9 bases
04/06 vs Dodgers
vs Kody ClemensHome run
106 mph · 31° · worth 3.9 bases
04/12 vs Twins
vs Tristan GrayHome run
105 mph · 33° · worth 3.9 bases
04/12 vs Twins
vs Dylan BeaversHome run
103 mph · 28° · worth 3.8 bases
09/11 vs Orioles

Luck check

2 outs behind him came on balls the simulator values at 1.5 bases or more.

vs Dillon DinglerOutLucky out
97 mph · 35° · worth 2.0 bases
09/16 vs Tigers
How to read this chart
Dot color is estimated bases (EB), what the contact was worth no matter what the defense did with it. Darker means more bases, so a dark hollow ring in the outfield is a crushed ball his defense ran down. Tap or hover a dot or a row to link the two, and use the ▶ links to watch a play on Baseball Savant.

Deserved vs. actual

Batters have been credited with about the bases their contact off Max Scherzer deserved.

Deserved by the contact he allowed138
Actually credited to batters135

Both bars count 259 balls in play, with walks and strikeouts left out.

How to read this chart
Every ball in play is worth the bases its exit velocity, launch angle and direction usually produce. If batters were credited with more than that, his results have been unlucky, and fewer means lucky. BABIP against is the batting average on balls in play he allows, next to the league median.

ERA 5.74 · WHIP 1.33 · BABIP against 0.258 (Lg median 0.286)

Times through the order

These charts show what happens as hitters see him a second and third time.

Best games

These are his biggest outings this season.

Best games

These are his best outings this season, ranked by bases saved against a replacement arm.

Multi-season trends · Max Scherzer

Compared with last season, his HR allowed% is down, his BB% is up, his K% is down, his Barrel% against is down, his Hard-hit% against is down, his FB% against is down and his Pull% against is up.

Actual rates show what happened on the field, season by season.