When you're a 34-year-old ace of a pitching staff and have three Cy Young Awards under your belt, you can definitely say you've earned some clout in baseball.
Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer is one of the best pitchers in baseball. Year in and year out, he's been a strikeout machine and hasn't had an ERA north of 3.00 since 2014 or won less than 14 games a season since 2010.
Sunday's performance was another masterful performance by the former Detroit Tiger, striking out 14 batters in 7 2/3 innings. The problem with a high strikeout rate means a ton of strikes will be thrown, thus, running the pitch count up. With 117 pitches thrown at that point and a runner on second in a 4-1 game, manager Dave Martinez decided Scherzer had enough.
As Martinez approached the mound, Scherzer wasn't exactly thrilled to be given the hook and was seen yelling "no" repeatedly.
You have to admire the passion and persistence of Scherzer for at least wanting to get out of the inning.
Martinez obliged with Scherzer's demands and left his ace in the game. Up walked Joey Votto, who was punched out on three straight strikes.
If a future Hall of Famer is confident in his abilities to escape an inning, then you should probably take his word for it. Considering how well Scherzer has pitched over his career, you should probably just trust him.
Scherzer is 3-5 on the year with a 3.06 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and a 6.50 strikeout to walk rate.
