Players · S · Pitcher · 2026

Max Scherzer

Age: 42
B/T: R/R
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 208 lb
Number: #31

Born: July 27, 1984 in St. Louis, MO, United States
MLB debut: April 29, 2008
Drafted: 2003, round 43
College: Missouri
High school: Parkway Central
Salary, 2026: $3M

dbWAR: 43.2
IP: 77.2
ERA: 6.14
FIP: 5.43
K/9: 7.1
FIP−: 130

Max Scherzer is a starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2026 he struck out 61 batters over 77.2 innings across 17 appearances, 17 of them starts, going 3-9. His ERA of 6.14 is 47.0% higher than the league average of 4.18 — the second worst on his team, and 495th of 538 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 5.43 FIP suggests he pitched better than his ERA shows. He missed bats on 20.4% of swings (10.1% of every pitch he threw), walked 10.1% of the batters he faced and struck out 18.1%. His -0.2 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.

League context

Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2026.

FIP5.43

K/97.1

WHIP1.36

WAR-.2

WAR by season

Pitching

Standard and advanced, by season.


2026	TOR	17	17	77.2	3	9	72	53	61	34	6.14	5.43	1.36	7.1	3.9	147	130	-0.2
2025	TOR	17	17	85.0	5	5	87	49	82	23	5.19	4.99	1.29	8.7	2.4	125	120	0.2
2024	TEX	9	9	43.1	2	4	40	19	40	10	3.95	4.18	1.15	8.3	2.1	97	103	0.4
2023	NYM/TEX	27	27	152.2	13	6	126	64	174	45	3.77	4.32	1.12	10.3	2.7	87	100	1.8
2022	NYM	23	23	145.1	11	5	108	37	173	24	2.29	2.62	0.91	10.7	1.5	58	66	4.0
2021	WSH/LAD	30	30	179.1	15	4	119	49	236	36	2.46	2.97	0.86	11.8	1.8	58	70	4.8
2020	WSH	12	12	67.1	5	4	70	28	92	23	3.74	3.46	1.38	12.3	3.1	84	78	1.6
2019	WSH	27	27	172.1	11	7	144	56	243	33	2.92	2.45	1.03	12.7	1.7	65	54	6.1
2018	WSH	33	33	220.2	18	7	150	62	300	51	2.53	2.65	0.91	12.2	2.1	61	64	6.7
2017	WSH	31	31	200.2	16	6	126	56	268	55	2.51	2.90	0.90	12.0	2.5	58	67	5.8
2016	WSH	34	34	228.1	20	7	165	75	284	56	2.96	3.24	0.97	11.2	2.2	71	77	5.1
2015	WSH	33	33	228.2	14	12	176	71	276	34	2.79	2.77	0.92	10.9	1.3	71	70	6.0

Batting

Standard and advanced, by season.


2021	WSH/LAD	27	63	0	0	1	0	0	28	.000	.000	.000	.000	.000	0.0%	44.4%	.000	-16.8	-122	-0.8
2019	WSH	28	61	10	0	2	2	0	27	.182	.182	.182	.000	.357	0.0%	44.3%	.159	-8.6	-11	0.1
2018	WSH	32	78	17	0	6	1	1	14	.243	.274	.271	.029	.304	1.3%	17.9%	.245	-4.6	47	0.7
2017	WSH	30	72	10	1	5	0	4	16	.161	.212	.210	.048	.200	5.6%	22.2%	.193	-7.9	10	0.3
2016	WSH	33	85	13	0	12	0	2	30	.186	.208	.200	.014	.325	2.4%	35.3%	.183	-9.4	7	0.2
2015	WSH	32	77	15	0	0	0	2	23	.217	.239	.217	.000	.326	2.6%	29.9%	.206	-6.7	22	0.4

Platoon splits

How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.

Season

Opponent batting by the side the hitter bats from, 2026. Counted from play-by-play, so totals can differ from the box-score season line by a plate appearance or two.
Split	PA	AB	H	HR	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	K%
vs LHB	213	182	50	9	27	28	.275	.373	.467	.372	13.1%
vs RHB	124	117	22	6	7	33	.188	.234	.368	.263	26.6%

Pitch sequencing

What Max Scherzer throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.

ShowBatter

Four-seamSliderChangeupCurveballCutter

Select a count to see exactly what Max Scherzer throws in it.

Pitch arsenal

What he throws, how hard, how often it misses, and what hitters do with it.

Season


Four-Seam Fastball	47.6%	641	93.0	2,328	51.8%	17.1%	117	.205	.674
Slider	19.2%	258	85.7	2,446	45.7%	28.5%	73	.274	.923
Changeup	15.0%	202	83.9	1,359	36.1%	16.8%	51	.255	.688
Curveball	14.7%	198	74.6	2,701	41.9%	26.1%	49	.224	.581
Cutter	3.6%	48	87.6	2,543	39.6%	11.1%	10	—	—

Max Scherzer's arsenal by usage. Velocity is average release speed in mph, spin in rpm, and whiff rate is misses per swing — the cleanest single measure of whether a pitch beats hitters. BAA and OPS are what hitters did against each pitch, credited to the one that ended the plate appearance, and are left blank under 15 at-bats.

Head to head

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Similar players

Nearest 2026 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.

Edward CabreraCHC

ERA: 5.96
FIP: 5.35
SO: 71
WAR: -0.2

Very close

Jacob LopezATH

ERA: 5.47
FIP: 5.22
SO: 112
WAR: 0.3

Very close

Ryan FeltnerCOL

ERA: 5.64
FIP: 5.12
SO: 89
WAR: 0.2

Ryan JohnsonLAA

ERA: 4.93
FIP: 5.39
SO: 76
WAR: -0.4

How these are computed

wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.