Scherzer Pitches Well Against the Cards

It was great to see Max Scherzer pitching like an ace today against the Cardinals, as the Nationals won 6-1 and swept the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. It was his best start of the season so far: seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts. A lot of his success can be attributed to his fastball, which was clocked at an average speed of 95.2 MPH and an 80% strike rate (44 of 55 fastballs were strikes). Ten of those strikes were swing-and-misses, meaning that his fastball had some great movement as well. He admits to making a small mechanical adjustment that affects his fastball control (a shortening of his arm action), which shows the kind of work he puts into his craft. Hopefully, he can bring that same fastball domination to bear against the Cubs in Chicago next weekend.