Max Scherzer continues to add to an already legendary career, and the Toronto Blue Jays veteran reached another remarkable milestone Thursday night.
Although Scherzer was outdueled by Boston Red Sox left-hander Payton Tolle, the 42-year-old right-hander still delivered another strong performance. Scherzer tossed five innings of one-run ball while striking out four, continuing a stretch of solid outings.
Scherzer Joins Exclusive 3,000-Inning Club
The biggest story of the night, however, had nothing to do with the final score.
Scherzer officially reached 3,000 career innings, becoming just the second active pitcher to reach that mark. He now has 3,004 innings for his career, putting him 139th on the all-time leaderboard.
Reaching 3,000 innings is an incredible accomplishment in today’s game, particularly considering how difficult it has become for starting pitchers to accumulate that type of workload over the course of a career.
Scherzer has been one of baseball’s most durable and dominant pitchers for nearly two decades. The three-time Cy Young Award winner has also accumulated 3,500-plus strikeouts, becoming just the 11th pitcher in MLB history to reach that milestone earlier this season.
Only One Active Pitcher Has More
Scherzer isn’t the active leader in career innings, though.
That distinction belongs to another future Hall of Famer, Justin Verlander, who currently leads all active pitchers with 3,571 1/3 innings.
Still, Scherzer reaching 3,000 innings puts him in rare company and adds another impressive accomplishment to one of the greatest pitching résumés of his generation.
At 42 years old, Scherzer may be nearing the end of his career, but performances like Thursday’s are reminders that “Mad Max” still has plenty left in the tank.
The milestone may have come in a loss, but it’s another historic achievement for one of the game’s all-time greats.
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