The Crane Pool Forum

NAME: Max Scherzer
AGE: 37
POSITION: Starting Pitcher
NUMBER: 21 (brand new number!)
NICKNAME: Mad Max, Blue Eye, Brown Eye
fWAR IN 2021: 5.4
ZIPS PROJECTION FOR 2022: 4.2

My name is Max Scherzer. I got a name that's teutonic and a pitch that's demonic.

Or something. I've been the best pitcher on every ball team I've ever been on. And as otherworldly as Jacob deGrom's half season was last year, you've got to think my full season added up to more. I was #3 in Cy Young voting and I went 7-0 down the stretch after getting dealt to the Dodgers.

But maybe pitching in his town takes the heat off of me, and I can conserve myself a little bit. Maybe we learn from each other. Feed off of each other. Maybe we become one big two-headed beast that devours everything in its PATH!

Or maybe I pop a tendon and he tears a lat and we all go down in flames. The Mets are forced to crank 195 innings out of Josh Walker and Jeremy Hefner briefly considers unretiriing.

That's certainly not the way we're hoping things go. But hope can make you blind to the future. We must look with a cynical eye.

Look into that future with me. What does my 2022 look like?

25 starts. 11-6. 3.05 ERA. Two Schaefer Pitcher of the Month awards.

I think he'll be in the top-five ranked NL pitchers... in fact, I'll go with #5.

I think we'll get more of Washington Max than Dodger Max, but it should still be pretty damn good, even if his performance isn't $45M worth of fWAR (he was worth $42.9M last year, holy shit).

He'll take the ball more than I'd guess a 37-year old dude would and and will go 13-8, 3.65 ERA, 190 IP, 215 K. A solid #2, if you will. #poojoke

An age-defying rock. 185 IP, 15-7, 2.50 ERA.