Syracuse, N.Y. — Max Scherzer overpowered Triple-A batters in his rehab start for the Syracuse Mets on Wednesday night, striking out seven of the 15 batters he faced in nearly four innings of work.
The three-time Cy Young winner allowed three hits, a walk and one run off a solo home run in 3 ⅔ innings of work against the Buffalo Bisons. He threw 59 pitches.
After the game, Scherzer said he was ready to rejoin the New York Mets for his next scheduled start on Sept. 19 at Milwaukee. Scherzer is 9-4 with a 2.26 ERA in 20 starts this season.
Scherzer worked quickly and fanned hitters with everything from low and away sliders to high fastballs. He struck out two batters each in the first, second and third innings and one in the fourth before he was pulled with two outs. Aside from two singles, his lone blemish was a hanging cutter, which L.J. Talley hit into the visitors bullpen.
“My overall command wasn’t as sharp, but you kind of know that when you skip a start,” Scherzer said. “The shape of all the pitches are there, but some of the executions are just not quite as crisp as they need to be.”
On Scherzer’s walk off the field, Syracuse fans gave him a warm ovation, and Scherzer tipped his cap.
Scherzer was in town on a rehab assignment after missing his scheduled start with the Mets last week due to discomfort on his left side.
“I wanted to compete, be in a game situation and really get this going,” Scherzer said. “I didn’t want to do a sim game where I just face hitters in Mets’ park. I wanted to be at a game, so I made that decision (Tuesday), came here and was able to get the work in that I needed.”
Wednesday night’s appearance in Syracuse was his first at the Triple-A level in over 4,000 days.
In late June, Scherzer made two rehab starts with Double-A Binghamton. The Mets chose to send him to Hartford, Connecticut rather than to Syracuse.
Like he did in Binghamton, Scherzer threw to Syracuse catcher Francisco Alvarez, MLB’s No. 1 prospect.
“It felt good,” Scherzer said about working with Alvarez. “Just working with him, different things I do with the baseball, execution, sequences. Obviously he’s one of the better prospects in the game right now, but he’s still got a lot to learn. When you’re 20 years old trying to be a catcher there’s so much to learn about this game ... It’s fun throwing to him.”
After Scherzer’s second start with Binghamton, he treated his teammates to upwards of $7,000 in gifts, including AirPods and a food spread containing bone-in ribeye, filet mignon and lobster. Scherzer signed a three-year, $130 million contract with the Mets this offseason – the highest average annual value in baseball history.
He said the postgame meal for his Mets teammates tonight would be “something good.”
Scherzer is the second Mets pitching ace to make a stop in Syracuse this year.
Jacob deGrom made starts on July 14 and July 27 for Syracuse in his return from a stress reaction in his scapula. His first start brought the largest attendance to NBT Bank Stadium since the Mets affiliation began in 2018.
After Scherzer stepped off the mound, he set his sights on rejoining deGrom in New York to prepare for the Mets’ postseason race.
“That’s why I wanted to come here, get in the game, get in the flow of the game, and now I can sharpen up and get ready for the next start,” Scherzer said.
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