CBS Sports’ Major League Baseball insider Jim Bowden reported that three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer will make his 2024 season debut on Saturday, June 22, when the Texas Rangers face the Kansas City Royals at home.
Scherzer pitched only eight games during the 2023 regular season, finishing with a 4-2 record and a 3.20 ERA. He surrendered 28 hits and collected 53 strikeouts in 45 innings, contributing to his 0.956 WHIP.
The eight-time MLB All-Star played in three postseason games during the Rangers' World Series-winning run. He took the mound in Games 3 and 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros and Game 3 of the World Series versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. While the Rangers won two of those three games, Scherzer did not get credit for those victories.
Max Scherzer will make his 2024 debut on Saturday against Kansas City, per @JimBowdenGM pic.twitter.com/svWLjbnICT
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 18, 2024
With Scherzer out of the lineup, the Rangers have relied on Andrew Heaney, Michael Lorenzen, Jon Gray, Nathan Eovaldi, and Dane Dunning for starting pitcher duties. Only Lorenzen has a winning record (4-3) and an ERA below 3.00 (2.86).
Worst yet, the Rangers are on a five-game losing streak after dropping a three-game series sweep against the Seattle Mariners and losing back-to-back to the New York Mets.
In their latest game, the defending World Series champions allowed the Mets to extend their winning streak to seven games despite having a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. New York's National League team scored the last five runs, capped off by a Pete Alonso double that brought Brandon Nimmo safely home, to secure a 7-6 triumph.
That defeat brings the Rangers to 33-40, ten games behind AL West-leading Seattle. They are also 7.5 games behind the Royals for the last Wild Card spot. Rangers fans hope that Scherzer's return will spark better performances from the squad.
-Lance Fernandez