Mets’ Max Scherzer ‘in a funk right now’ after latest disappointing start
Just five days away from his best start to the season, that’s what it looks like Max Scherzer Once breaking up the Los Angeles Dodgers’ strong lineup, Scherzer returned to the pitcher the Mets have seen worryingly often this year, and who is allowing home runs at a pace known in the Home Run Derby.
On Saturday night, as the Mets were looking to win the doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox and win their second straight series, Scherzer allowed four home runs in his six innings, including a leadoff home run Jarren Duran that advanced New York into an early hole and two strokes Triston Casaswhose second pass gave Boston the lead again after the Mets’ offense resisted.
“That’s the bad thing. I get it. It’s mine,” Scherzer said. “Not here to make excuses for it. I will answer for all these pitches. That’s the bad. The good? Look, I said I’d throw a better slider, and I thought I did… It’s just one of those things that confuses me right now because I’m just prone to home runs.”
For the most part, Scherzer’s slider was better on Saturday than it has been this season. However, one of the four home runs resulted in a stuck slider Yu Chang that was in the middle of the plate. Scherzer said he had a bad grip on the ball and shouldn’t have thrown the field in the first place.
“I really really liked the rest of today’s sliders,” he said.
The other three home runs came from three different fields: curveball, cutter, and fastball. Duran’s leadoff home run, which hit the Pesky pole, came off a curveball, but that won’t “kettle Scherzer’s sleep” because the field was where he wanted it and at most other stadiums it would have been a foulball.
The two to Casas are a little more concerning because Scherzer said he didn’t throw the throws where he wanted, instead throwing them down and in (right where Casas likes it) rather than up and in.
“Both Casas home runs are on me,” said Scherzer. “I need to improve my performance. I did a lot better upstairs and in the quadrant than tonight.”
The discrepancies in Scherzer’s season were difficult to explain. Far too often, the 38-year-old followed one or more good starts with a start like that on Saturday evening. In fact, Scherzer has allowed nine home runs in 17 innings in his last three away starts.
“Baseball is funny, I don’t know,” he said. “The game always finds a way to surprise you and smack you in the face. I just have to find a way to adapt, make changes, and next time go out and do quality pitches. It’s the only thing you can do at this level.”