It's the ninth inning. Our team has a one-run lead and there are two outs, but the bases are loaded and the other team's best hitter is coming up. We need a strikeout.
If we could bring in any active pitcher to get it, who would it be?
This was the scenario we envisioned as we set about ranking the top 10 strikeout artists in MLB today. And by "today," we don't mean just the 2023 season. We considered all pitchers, be they starter or reliever, who have some kind of claim to strikeout fame within recent history.
In determining which is the best at his craft, we considered what kind of stuff they work with, how well they command the ball and whether they have any relevant weaknesses.
10. RHP Max Scherzer, New York Mets
Claim to Strikeout Fame: Leads active pitchers with 3,232 career Ks.
The Case for Him
Well, this is only the best strikeout pitcher of all-time we're talking about.
This might sound hyperbolic given that Scherzer's 3,224 strikeouts only lead active pitchers and not, you know, everyone who's ever pitched. Scherzer's career 29.4 strikeout rate, on the other hand, is the best of all-time. Take that, Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson.
You have to be able to miss bats to put up a strikeout rate like that. And Scherzer, of course, does. His 6,435 swings and misses in the 16-year pitch tracking era are close to 900 more than any other pitcher.
The Case Against Him
Alas, we're not in the 2010s anymore. Scherzer is a 38-year-old pitcher who has looked like, well, a 38-year-old pitcher in 2023.
His velocity? Down. His swinging strike rate? Down. His swinging strike rate? Naturally, also down.