Fact: Dodgers right-hander Max Scherzer is a future Hall of Famer.

Taking it one step further, with three Cy Young Awards, eight All-Star appearances, and a World Series Championship on his resume, the 37-year-old St. Louis, MO native and first-round draft pick in 2006 by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of the University of Missouri will, in all likelihood, be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

The unfortunate part, if you can even call it that, is that he will more than likely be enshrined in the sacred Halls of Cooperstown wearing a Washington Nationals hat, as he should. The reason, of course, is that of his Hall-of-Fame-worthy (current) 187 wins, 92 of them were with the Nationals, with the other 95 split between the Detroit Tigers (82), Diamondbacks (nine), and (thus far) four with the Dodgers.

Then again, should the Dodgers win their second consecutive World Series this season, and should the Dodgers bring Scherzer back in 2022 (and perhaps beyond) and win additional World Championships, you just never know – maybe number 31 will one day be added to Dodger Stadium’s famed Ring of Honor, which is reserved exclusively for Dodgers Hall of Famers (save for former Dodger great Jim Gilliam).

Following Wednesday night’s (and Thursday morning’s) epic five hour and 49-minute game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, Scherzer gave the Dodgers exactly what they needed – a long (7.2 innings) performance and subsequent 4-0 win – thereby giving Dodgers manager Dave Roberts‘ exhausted bullpen a much-needed (and well-deserved) rest.

With Scherzer’s brilliant two-hit shutout performance on Thursday, Roberts needed only one-third of an inning from recently acquired (on August 20) 32-year-old right-hander Shane Greene, and only one inning from just-off-the-IL (on Wednesday) right-hander Joe Kelly to give his team a three-game sweep of the NL West third-place Padres to remain 2.5 games back of the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants, who also won on Thursday.

In his five starts with the Dodgers, Scherzer is now 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA. He has struck out 41 while walking only five in his combined 29.0 innings pitched as a Dodger.

“He’s been huge. He’s been better than advertised,” Roberts told reporters postgame. “I knew there was a work ethic, a compete, a fire, but I didn’t realize the preparation.

“He knows exactly what he wants to do when he takes that mound. He knows where the defense is at. He knows how to navigate a lineup and he knows what stuff is working that particular night. You layer that in with the talent, and it’s pretty impressive. We needed a big one out of him, and he delivered,” added the Dodgers skipper.

“I knew coming in that the bullpen was taxed,” Scherzer said, after his 12th win of the season and fourth as a Dodger. “That’s what the team needed. The team needed me to go deep today, and I was able to go out there and execute the game plan with [Dodgers catcher Austin] Barnes and we did a lot of great things tonight.”

As you might expect, Barnes also had high praise for Scherzer – and another future Hall of Famer.

“Him and Kersh (Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw), with their competitiveness and the way they attack the zone, they know how to pitch,” Barnes said postgame. “They know their mix. They can go off script a little bit and feel hitters out at a pretty high level. It was fun today. I can see why he’s had so much success in his career.”

Enjoy Cooperstown, Max – and Kersh.

…just not for a while, okay?

Play Ball!

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