Texas Rangers Manager Recalls Max Scherzer As a Rookie

Bruce Bochy was manager of the San Francisco Giants when new Texas Rangers starter Max Scherzer broke into the Majors in 2008.

ARLINGTON, Texas — New Texas Rangers starting pitcher Max Scherzer has been a Major Leaguer for so long that it’s hard to remember that, at one time, he was an Arizona Diamondbacks prospect.

Back in 2006, the Diamondbacks drafted Scherzer No. 11 overall out of the University of Missouri. It took less than two seasons for Scherzer to get his MLB call-up, as Arizona had the young right-hander start seven games, with 16 overall appearances, in 2008.

He went 0-4. In 2009, his first full Major League season, he went 9-11.

Today, he’s a three-time Cy Young Award winner, a World Series champion and a likely Hall-of-Famer once his career is over.

But did anyone see all of that coming after his first two seasons with Arizona? Well, maybe not those awards, rings, 211 career wins and 3,323 strikeouts — 12th all-time.

But Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, then the San Francisco Giants skipper, knew one thing after facing Scherzer for two seasons.

“I knew what great stuff he had,” Bochy said. “Like any young player, he had some wildness. But the stuff, man, it was electric.”

Scherzer wasn’t with the D-backs long. He ended up in a three-team deal at the end of the 2009 season that saw Scherzer, Daniel Schlereth, Phil Coke, and Austin Jackson end up with the Detroit Tigers as part of a three-team agreement which sent Ian Kennedy and Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks and Curtis Granderson to the New York Yankees.

It worked out for Scherzer. He won his first Cy Young in 2013 with Detroit, pitching in the same rotation with Justin Verlander.

What Scherzer has now that he might have had back in 2008 was what Bochy calls two of the key traits of an elite player — intensity and focus — especially when things don’t go right. That was the case when Scherzer allowed three runs in his first inning with Texas, but still getting the win on Thursday.

“When things don’t go right that’s when you find out about yourself,” Bochy said.

“In our game, you’ve got to have talent. You’ve got to have that mental toughness to deal with those things. He has what I think separates those (elite) guys from the good guys.”

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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