Thirty-seven-year-old Dodgers right-hander Max Scherzer has been named one of three finalists for the 2021 National League Cy Young Award, along with 31-year-old Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler and 27-year-old Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Corbin Burnes. The announcement came late Monday afternoon.

Scherzer, already a three-time Cy Young Award winner, was acquired by the Dodgers from the Washington National on July 30, 2021 (along with middle infielder Trea Turner) in exchange for right-hander Josiah Gray, top catching prospect Keibert Ruiz, minor league right-hander Gerardo Carrillo, and minor league outfielder Donovan Casey.

The St. Louis, MO native and first-round draft pick in 2006 by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of the University of Missouri in Columbia posted an 8-4 record and 2.76 ERA in his 19 starts with the Nationals, and went 7-0 with an outstanding 1.98 ERA in his 11 regular-season starts with the Dodgers for an outstanding combined 2021 regular-season record of 15-4 and combined 2.46 ERA. He also had a career-best 0.86 WHIP between the Nationals and Dodgers, ranked first among qualified NL pitchers in WHIP and opponents’ batting average (.185), second in ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.56), and was fourth with his 236 strikeouts. With the Dodgers, Scherzer struck out 89 while walking only eight in his 68.1 innings pitched.

Burnes is the only 2021 NL Cy Young Award finalist with an ERA lower than Scherzer’s at 2.43 to go along with his 11-5 record, while Wheeler (14–10, 2.78 ERA) led all Major League pitchers with his 213.1 innings pitched.

As noted, Scherzer is already a three-time Cy Young Award winner and is one of only six players to have won baseball’s highest pitching award in both leagues, along with Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, and Roy Halladay, with all but Clemens (PEDs) being Hall of Famers.

Scherzer became a free agent at the conclusion of the 2021 season and is thought by many to be Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman‘s number-one free-agent target this off-season.

The 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner, which is voted on by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), will be announced on Wednesday, November 17 on MLB Network.

Stay tuned…

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