Following his final spring training start ahead of Opening Day, Mets starter Max Scherzer gave his thoughts on ramping up his pitch count to 100 pitches prior to the start of the regular season. Scherzer tossed six innings of two-run ball against the Tampa Bay Rays, surrendering four hits while striking out 12.
“It’s a full dress rehearsal where I get 100 pitches and go,” Scherzer told reporters on Friday. “You face a lineup two or three times. When you get into your Opening Day start and you get into 90-plus pitches, it makes the conversation with Buck [Showalter] much easier.”
The 38-year-old added that approaching a triple-digit pitch count by the end of the spring is an essential part of his preseason process over the recent years in his career.
“I’ve been paying attention to how I feel when ramping up my pitch count and I feel great. I’ve done this many years in a row. You want to experience 100 pitches. You want to be at 100 pitches when the intensity ramps up.”
Scherzer will make his seventh Opening Day start and his first as a Met on Thursday in Miami.