A closer look at Max Scherzer's ongoing regular season undefeated streak

The last time Max Scherzer was handed a loss was October 11, 2021. It was a postseason game for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the team he most recently defeated as a member of the New York Mets, the San Francisco Giants.

Prior to that, Scherzer hadn’t lost in a really long time. He went undefeated with the Dodgers in the regular season, finishing 7-0 in his 11 starts with Los Angeles.

To find Scherzer’s last loss tallied to his record, you have to go back to May 30.

Mets pitcher Max Scherzer now has a .666 career winning percentage and an undefeated streak to maintain

In three starts with the Mets, Scherzer has done more than go undefeated. He has also picked up wins in each. He took down the Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, and Giants. It’ll be kind of neat if he does get to face the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend which will give him a chance to beat two of his former clubs early on. If not, save him for Monday to face his hometown St. Louis Cardinals.

Scherzer’s undefeated streak came at an interesting point of his 2021 season. The loss on May 30 to the Milwaukee Brewers gave him a very Jacob deGrom-inspired 4-4 record partnered with a 2.34 ERA. Scherzer tossed six shutout innings for the Nationals, striking out 10, and allowing only two earned runs. The pitiful 2021 Nationals couldn’t muster up a single run at home for him. A first inning two-run home run by Avisail Garcia was the lone blemish on the day for Scherzer.

Each outing thereafter, Scherzer managed to outpitch his opponent or at least get a little help from his teammates. He never lost again in the 2021 regular season, going 8-4 with the Nationals before winning 7 more with the Dodgers.

Streaks like this won’t get too much attention because it spans three ball clubs and enters into a new season. It’s still impressive. Although Scherzer wasn’t sharp in each of those starts since May 30 of last year, he has avoided losses to his now devilish .666 winning percentage. For his career, Scherzer has gone 193-97. He looks well on his way to winning 200 games before losing 100.

Currently, Scherzer has the 20th best winning percentage of any pitcher in baseball history with enough innings to qualify. Among active pitchers, only Clayton Kershaw has a better one.

Scherzer’s Hall of Fame case continues to build as a member of the Mets. An undefeated streak like this is a big reason why he is one of the greats of the game. Between the undefeated streak and the .666 winning percentage, I'm beginning to wonder if he is The Undertaker.