After having offseason surgery to fix a herniated disk in his back and experiencing nerve issues that extended his rehab, Texas Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer’s 2024 season debut was worth the wait.
Fresh off winning his second World Series title last season with the Rangers, the three-time Cy Young Award winner went five innings, allowing one hit and no earned runs while striking out four batters on 57 pitches versus the Kansas City Royals Sunday afternoon.
The 39-year-old right-hander also continued his climb up the MLB all-time ranks, with his four strikeouts earning him a tie with Greg Maddux for 11th place all-time with 3,371 career strikeouts.
At 37-40, the defending champions have had a disappointing start but find themselves only six-and-a-half games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners and four-and-a-half games out of a wild card spot.
After having one of the most potent offenses in baseball last season, they have taken a step back in 2024. Currently ranked in 17th in MLB with 329 runs scored, the Rangers will need all the help they can get from the pitching staff.
While pitchers Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray and Michael Lorenzen have done a great job keeping opposing hitters at bay, adding a veteran like Scherzer to stabilize the rotation will be a big boost to their playoff chances with his ability to go out and give the team a chance to win every five games.
Scherzer is also not the only veteran waiting to rejoin the rotation.
Jacob deGrom is currently on the road to returning to game action, with August being the goal for him to rejoin the club.
Signed to a five-year, $185M contract with the Rangers in December of 2022, the two-time Cy Young award winner has only managed to throw 30.1 innings as a member of the Rangers due to injury issues.
In those 30.1 innings pitched, deGrom was stellar, going 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA while striking out 45 batters.
The Rangers will hope Scherzer’s impressive debut can help them make a push for the postseason as he continues to etch his name into the MLB history books.