Max Scherzer is back where his MLB career started for Game 3 of the 2023 World Series.
The 39-year-old right-hander will take the mound for the Texas Rangers on Monday night in the same venue where he once made his big league debut. Just in a different uniform. Scherzer was drafted in the first round by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006 and saw his first MLB action with the club at Phoenix's Chase Field two years later.
Fast-forward nearly two decades and the eight-time All-Star is set to return to Arizona with the Fall Classic knotted at 1-1 and a series lead in the balance.
"This is what you dream of when you're a kid," Scherzer told reporters on Sunday. "When you're a kid, you dream of hitting in the World Series, pitching in the World Series. You watched your idols do this in all the big games.... This is crazy to say it's my third World Series, but here I have another opportunity to live out my dream."
This dream has been a reality for Scherzer before.
After Monday's start, the three-time Cy Young winner will have started a World Series game with three different teams. Only seven other pitchers have started a game in the Fall Classic with three franchises, according to MLB.
Scherzer's first time in the World Series came in a 2012 Fall Classic loss with the Detroit Tigers. The future Hall of Famer went back in 2019 with the Washington Nationals and won a ring. In three career World Series games, Scherzer is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA across 16 1/3 innings, striking out 18 batters and allowing eight walks.
"You have to match the moment," Scherzer said. "This is a big game. Obviously, you're playing for the World Series. You've got to match that. You've got to be aggressive and go out there and attack.... You've got to grind all the way to the end."
Scherzer signed a three-year, $130 million deal with the New York Mets ahead of last season. But he didn't stay in the Big Apple for very long. Amid a disappointing Mets season, Scherzer was among many highly paid players shipped out of town ahead of this summer's trade deadline. The Rangers acquired the starter to bolster their rotation for the playoff push.
That paid off.
In eight regular-season starts with Texas, Scherzer posted a 3.20 ERA. A muscle strain in his right shoulder sidelined him in mid-September, and he didn't return until Games 3 and 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros. Scherzer posted a 9.45 ERA in that series and never went deeper than four innings.
Scherzer said his fastball is 100 percent back, and the Rangers are anticipating the rust will continue to fall off.
"It's just getting better and better with him, which is the norm—the command of all his pitches, arm strength," Manager Bruce Bochy said. "I did go out and get him early, but he's been getting his work in. Took a good bullpen a couple of days ago. So [it] just takes time sometimes, and each time out I think he's just getting better."
The Rangers opened the World Series with a walk-off, extra innings win to take a 1-0 lead. But the D-Backs bounced back with a 9-1 win in Game 2.
Scherzer's first start of the Fall Classic comes at a pivotal point in the series.
In best-of-seven postseason series with the current 2-3-2 format, teams have split the first two games 87 times, according to MLB. The home team in those games still went on to win that series 48 times (55 percent). In any best-of-seven series tied at 1-1, the Game 3 winner has eventually taken the series 68 of 99 times (69 percent).
Scherzer may not be the only Texas player comfortable with playing in Arizona. The Rangers are a perfect 8-0 away from home this postseason, ahead of their first road contest in the World Series.
And Texas has to feel confident in the starter they are sending out in this instance.
"We landed the player that we felt like is going to help us get where we want to go this year," Rangers General Manager Chris Young said over the summer when speaking about acquiring Scherzer.
And now the Rangers are here. And a good start out of Scherzer will have him one step closer to adding a second ring to his already lengthy résumé.
How to Watch World Series Game 3
The first pitch of Game 3 of the 2023 World Series is scheduled for 8:03 p.m. ET on Monday at Chase Field. The game will air on Fox. Joe Davis (play-by-play) and John Smoltz (analyst) will be on the call from Arizona. Tom Verducci and Ken Rosenthal will offer updates throughout the broadcast.
Rookie Brandon Pfaadt is slated to start for the Diamondbacks. The right-hander allowed two runs across 9 2/3 innings pitched against the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series, striking out 16 batters in two Arizona wins.
Games 4 and 5 will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unless the Rangers or Diamondbacks win the series in five games, the series will head back to Arlington, Texas, for Friday's Game 6.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Robert Read is a Sports Reporter at Newsweek based in Florida. He previously spent four years working at The Daily ... Read more
