Scherzer’s Elite Slider Should Be Mesmerizing for Mets Fans to Watch

Looking to acquire one of the top pitchers available in free agency, the New York Mets did just that when they agreed to a three-year, $130 million contract with starter Max Scherzer this offseason.

Pairing the future Hall of Famer with ace Jacob deGrom, who’s coming off an injury-shortened 2021 campaign, this lethal duo, assuming they remain relatively healthy, are expected to provide the Mets with a dominant one-two punch at the top of their starting rotation for many seasons to come.

Despite being set to enter his age-37 season in 2022, Scherzer remains at the top of his game, which was on full display with both the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers last season. Though he wasn’t able to advance past the National League Championship Series, his remarkable performance from the regular season helped him become a six-time finalist for the NL Cy Young Award.

Granted, the 6’3″ hurler didn’t come away with the fourth Cy Young Award of his career, however, he still enjoyed a memorable showing across two different franchises, where he posted a stunning 2.46 ERA, 2.90 xERA, 2.97 FIP, 3.24 xFIP, .184 OPP AVG, 34.1% strikeout rate, 5.2% walk rate and a 5.4 fWAR through 179 1/3 innings pitched.

Comparing these stellar metrics against the rest of the majors, Scherzer finished with the second-best ERA, the second-highest strikeout rate, the fifth-highest fWAR rating and the sixth-best FIP among all starters who compiled at least 150.0 innings, according to FanGraphs.com.

With this in mind, there’s no question it’ll be very enjoyable to watch the eight-time all-star competing for the home team at Citi Field next season, whenever it begins. Among all five of his pitches, in particular, his mid-80s slider should generate plenty of excitement surrounding this fanbase as it’s acted as his most devasting weapon throughout the majority of his career.

Over the years, Scherzer has primarily relied on his mid-90s four-seamer, utilizing it at least 45 percent of the time in all 14 major league seasons. Having said that, his primary breaking ball has also served as a key aspect of his arsenal, especially when it comes to inducing swings and misses.

Even though the talented right-hander features multiple different strikeout offerings, his slider continued to perform as his most reliable option in 2021, as it created a 42.1% strikeout rate and a 48.5% whiff rate – both of which were the highest among all of his pitches – over 145 plate appearances.

Additionally, Scherzer’s breaking ball also recorded an impressive .143 AVG, .160 xAVG, .271 SLG, .300 xSLG, .188 wOBA, ,209 xwOBA and a 51.3% ground ball rate.

From this past season alone, there were tons of quality examples that perfectly showcased the veteran starter’s dominance with his slider. But among all of them, one of the most jaw-dropping moments took place during Game Three of the NLDS, where – now free agent – Kris Bryant laughably struck out on an outside pitch that clearly fooled him. Video courtesy of Rob Friedman/Pitching Ninja.

Max Scherzer, Filthy 88mph Slider…and Patented Spin K Strut. pic.twitter.com/tjBVk8Zc9G

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 12, 2021

As this clip displays, Scherzer’s slider frustrated opposing hitters all season long, as it performed as one of the top weapons in the sport. Backing up this claim, it finished tied with the 10th-best run value (-15) and tied for the 10th-highest whiff rate (48.5%) among all qualified pitches per 100 plate appearances, according to BaseballSavant.com.

How has the 2019 World Series champion been so successful with his breaking for all these years? Well, it certainly hasn’t been because of any dramatic vertical or horizontal movement – both of which ranked in the bottom third of the majors in 2021.

Surprisingly, at least in this era of the game, Scherzer has leaned on pinpoint accuracy involving his slider throughout his career. While it does own a respectable spin rate, averaging 2,273 RPMs last season, for the most part, his repeatable arm action when releasing all five of his pitches has played the biggest factor in allowing his primary strikeout offering to remain effective.

Here’s where Scherzer’s slider was located, against both left-handers and right-handers, in 2021:

When facing righties, Scherzer positioned his slider on the outer half of the strike zone and in most cases, forced those same batters to chase off the plate. On the other hand, against lefties, his breaking ball would largely finish down on the inside corner, causing several players to be caught looking at strike three.

Historically, the former first-round selection’s breaking ball has been particularly dominant against right-handed hitters and it continued that same trend this past season, as it performed far better than anyone could’ve hoped for once again.

Utilizing his slider 38.6 percent of the time, Scherzer finished with an incredible .150 AVG, .169 xAVG, .286 SLG, .316 xSLG, .198 wOBA, .220 xwOBA, 39.1% strikeout rate, 48.0% whiff rate and a 51.3% GB rate through 138 plate appearances.

Digging deeper into his dominance against righties, when the count reaches two strikes, Scherzer’s slider is virtually untouchable and was exactly that in 2021. In total, opposing hitters could only muster up a measly .098 AVG and a .084 xAVG, paired with a 63.5% strikeout rate and a 42.2% whiff rate, during those situations.

While he did allow a pair of home runs with two strikes against his slider, given that he hadn’t surrendered a single long ball of this variety since 2018, it’s probably safe to assume this shouldn’t transform into any kind of concern moving forward.

Even at this stage of his career, with his slider still performing at an elite level, Scherzer is expected to continue serving as a consistent swing-and-miss hurler during his tenure with the Mets. Though it’s unclear as to how many quality years he has remaining, at this rate, it doesn’t seem like the three-time Cy Young Award winner will be slowing down any time soon.

If New York’s pitching staff can stay healthy in 2022, which hasn’t been the case in previous seasons, they’re slated to feature a powerful rotation that’s headlined by deGrom, Scherzer and Carlos Carrasco – that’s a pretty potent trio, especially when it comes to the postseason.

With “Mad Max” signed through at least 2023 – his deal includes an opt-out after year two – this team should finally be able to snap its current five-year playoff drought. Or at least, that’s the goal.

The post Scherzer’s Elite Slider Should Be Mesmerizing for Mets Fans to Watch first appeared on Metsmerized Online.