Max Scherzer was named the National League Outstanding Pitcher in the 2021 Players Choice Awards after putting up another spectacular season during time spent with the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers.
This is the third time Scherzer has won the award, previously receiving the American League Outstanding Pitcher Award in 2013 and for the NL in 2017.
In 179.1 innings, Scherzer pitched to a 2.46 ERA and 2.97 FIP while striking out 11.84 hitters per nine and walking 1.81 per nine with a 5.4 WAR.
The award is voted on by MLB players, so Scherzer was particularly honored to receive the honor from his peers, via the MLBPA Twitter account:
“That means a lot. To be selected by the players as the best pitcher, you face these guys and that shows you they have a level of respect for you to recognize you as the best. So that really does mean a lot to me to be recognized amongst my peers.”
After being traded from the Nationals to the Dodgers, Scherzer went on a historic run where he posted a 0.88 ERA, which is the lowest a pitcher has ever had with a new team over their first eight starts.
During that span, Scherzer earned NL Player of the Week honors for Sept. 6-12 by going 2-0 with just one earned run allowed and 22 strikeouts in 16 innings. Scherzer also picked up his 3,000th career strikeout and became the second-fastest pitcher in history to reach the milestone.
Corbin Burnes of the Milwaukee Brewers and Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies were the other finalists for NL Outstanding Pitcher.
While they arguably posted better numbers this season, Scherzer has earned a lot of respect from players throughout the sport.
He was also a finalist for the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award, but that went to Marcus Semien of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Scherzer is a candidate to win a fourth career Cy Young Award. Finalists will be announced Nov. 8, with Cy Young winners revealed Nov. 17.
Scherzer Dodgers’ lone 2021 Players Choice Awards recipient
The entire 2021 Players Choice Awards winners were revealed on Thursday and for the Dodgers, Scherzer was the only player to take home an award.
The awardees, in collaboration with the MLB Players Trust, will have an opportunity to donate $70,000 to their choice of charity.
The Baltimore Orioles and L.A. Angels were the only teams with multiple award winners.
Orioles’ first baseman Ryan Mountcastle was named AL Outstanding Rookie while teammate Trey Mancini won AL Comeback Player.
Shohei Ohtani of the Angels won the Player of the Year and the AL Outstanding Player.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and more!
