Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer won't win the National League Cy Young Award tonight. When balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America is announced on MLB Network, that honor is likely to go to Cubs ace Jake Arrieta or Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke.
But for the first half of the season, Scherzer seemed to be the clear-cut frontrunner to claim the second Cy Young of his eight-year career.
After inking a record seven-year, $210 deal for a right-hander in January, Scherzer showed up at spring training and was chosen as the opening day starter over longtime Nationals Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg. But Scherzer backed it up from the start, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Mets on the season's first day.
Little did everyone know such flirtations would become an historic theme for Scherzer.
Scherzer allowed two runs or less in 14 of his 18 starts before the All-Star break, going 10-7 with a 2.11 ERA, tied for second-best behind Geinke. His 0.78 WHIP was tops in the majors at the time and his 150 strikeouts were second to Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw.
Coming off a pair of losses in early June, Scherzer rebounded with two of the most stunning performances in the majors this past season. He took a perfect game into the seventh in Milwaukee on June 14, only to have it shattered by a broken-bat single from Carlos Gomez. Scherzer finished off a 4-0 one-hit shutout, setting a then-Nationals record with 16 strikeouts.
Scherzer took the mound six days later against the Pirates. This time, the dominant right-hander wowed the crowd of 41,104 at Nationals Park by not allowing a baserunner until Jose Tabata reached first with two outs in the ninth when Scherzer's slider clipped the Pirates pinch-hitter's elbow. The hit batsman ruined Scherzer's perfect game bid, but he finished off his first career no-hitter moments later.
Scherzer's incredible stretch continued in his next outing against the Phillies when he carried a perfect game into the sixth game for the third straight time. He went 54 batters in between hits allowed in Milwaukee and Philadelphia before Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis doubled. And he eventually gave up a run, ending a streak of 24 2/3 scoreless innings.
Scherzer was named the National League's Pitcher of the Month for June, and when the Nationals hit the All-Star break with a two-game division lead, the talk was more focused on how Washington could lose a playoff series with Scherzer taking the mound at least twice.
But the second half of the season went downhill for Scherzer and the Nats. The Dodgers took two of three in Washington in the first series out of the All-Star break, with Scherzer getting outpitched by Greinke in the series finale.
A rough start followed in Pittsburgh and then teams began to hit Scherzer hard. He went just 1-4 with a 5.09 ERA over his first eight starts after the All-Star break. Teams went from batting .185 against him through his first 18 outings to .275 and Scherzer surrendered 10 homers over the slump. The Nationals managed only two wins in Scherzer's eight starts as they lost hold of the NL East, sinking further and further behind the Mets. Scherzer went 0-3 with a 6.43 ERA in August.
September started well as Scherzer helped the Nats avoid a sweep with a win in St. Louis. But a few days later, he wasn't able to hold a lead in a crucial game against the Mets, as the Nats fell 8-5 with Scherzer charged with five runs.
The same scenario repeated two weeks later in Scherzer's final loss of the season when he was tagged for a go-ahead two-run homer by Orioles third baseman Manny Machado in a series that finally put the nail in the Nationals' coffin.
But Scherzer rebounded with a brilliant start against the Reds and then capped off an erratic second half with an epic no-hitter in New York on the season's penultimate night. He struck out 17 Mets without allowing a walk in the historic game, just missing another perfect game on Yunel Escobar's sixth-inning throwing error.
Scherzer became just the sixth pitcher in major league history to throw two no-hitters in a season. He also took perfect games into the sixth inning four times and six times carried no-hitters into the sixth.
Scherzer finished the season 14-12 with a 2.79 ERA. He tied Kershaw and Arrieta for most complete games (four) and shutouts (three) in the majors. Only Kershaw's 301 strikeouts were better than Scherzer's 276 in the bigs.
However, the Nats didn't take full advantage of Scherzer's brilliance, winning only 18 of the 33 times he took the mound. On many nights, the run support simply wasn't there.
Scherzer turned in a spectacular season in his first year in Washington, except for his baffling performance from late July to early September. Unfortunately, that ill-timed slump came when the Nationals needed their stopper most as the Mets widened the gap in the NL East.
Scherzer figures to contend for another Cy Young Award in 2016 as he leads a Nationals rotation likely without Zimmermann and Doug Fister. But with the way Strasburg pitched down the stretch, the Nats could challenge with the best 1-2 punch in baseball next season.
How would you grade Scherzer's first year in D.C.?