Max Scherzer, American baseball player
Maxwell Martin Scherzer (born July 27, 1984) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers. A right-handed starting pitcher, Scherzer is an eight-time MLB All-Star, has won three Cy Young Awards, has pitched two no-hitters, and won the World Series with the Nationals in 2019. Known for his intensity and competitiveness during play, he is nicknamed "Mad Max" after the fictional character of the same name.

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Scherzer with the 11th overall pick of the 2006 amateur draft. He made his MLB debut with the Diamondbacks in 2008. In December 2009, Scherzer was traded to the Detroit Tigers. During his five-year tenure in Detroit, Scherzer made the American League All-Star Team twice and won the 2013 American League Cy Young Award. Scherzer also helped the Tigers win four consecutive American League Central titles from 2011 to 2014.

Before the 2015 season, Scherzer agreed to a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Nationals. At the time of its signing, the contract was one of the largest in sports history. In 2015, Scherzer became the sixth pitcher in Major League history to record multiple no-hitters in a single season. On May 11, 2016, he tied the major league nine-inning single-game strikeout record with 20, making him the second player to achieve both a no-hitter and 20 strikeouts over nine innings; in the same game, he became the youngest-ever pitcher to have defeated all 30 MLB teams during his career. Scherzer won the NL Cy Young Award in 2016 and 2017 and made the National League All-Star Team five times with the Nationals. In the 2019 World Series, Scherzer earned a win in Game One and also started the deciding Game Seven, which the Nationals also won (Scherzer received a no-decision). The 2019 World Series championship was the first in the history of the Nationals franchise.

Scherzer is the fifth pitcher to start an All-Star Game for both the American and National Leagues. He is a four-time wins leader and a winner of three strikeout titles. One of the most consistent hurlers of his era, he made at least 30 starts each season from 2009 to 2018 and struck out at least 230 batters in each season from 2012 to 2019. In 2017, he became the third-fastest hurler to record 2,000 career strikeouts and the fourth to strike out 250 or more in four consecutive seasons. Scherzer recorded more wins (161) and strikeouts (2,452) than any pitcher in the 2010s. He logged his 3,000th strikeout on September 12, 2021. He currently holds the record for the highest average annual value baseball contract ever, earning over $43 million per season.