Max Scherzer: how great is he? Second only to Kershaw since 2013.

Max Scherzer signed a big free agent contract with the Washington Nationals and started pitching for them in 2015. Scherzer won the National League Cy Young award in 2016 and 2017.

The Nationals are 30-22 in 2018. Let's use 162 innings for each of Scherzer's first three seasons plus 50 for 2018 to set a minimum number of innings for 2015-2018 to evaluate starting pitchers. (162*3)+50=536

Rk	Player	ERA+	IP	From	To	Age	G	GS	CG	SHO	GF	W	L	W-L%	SV	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	FIP	K%	BB%	BAbip	HR	BF	IBB	HBP	BK	WP	Tm	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	SH	SF	2B	3B	GDP	SB	CS	PO
1	Clayton Kershaw	184	600.2	2015	2018	27-30	88	88	8	6	0	47	19	.712	0	436	156	142	93	723	2.13	2.38	31.5%	4.1%	.273	53	2294	2	7	8	21	LAD	.200	.235	.311	.546	52	12	4	73	5	34	11	12	11
2	Max Scherzer	155	729.1	2015	2018	30-33	109	109	8	4	0	58	26	.690	0	514	233	219	163	936	2.70	2.89	32.7%	5.7%	.262	86	2864	7	26	2	18	WSN	.194	.247	.347	.595	60	22	6	123	12	28	24	8	1
3	Corey Kluber	154	719.1	2015	2018	29-32	104	104	13	5	0	52	31	.627	0	558	251	231	148	815	2.89	2.97	28.9%	5.2%	.277	76	2822	6	24	2	17	CLE	.212	.260	.349	.610	59	16	7	122	5	50	35	20	1
4	Jake Arrieta	151	646.0	2015	2018	29-32	103	103	5	4	0	58	26	.690	0	480	226	193	196	624	2.69	3.25	24.2%	7.6%	.256	51	2578	6	22	0	37	CHC-PHI	.205	.272	.324	.595	64	8	9	103	11	51	71	16	3
5	Zack Greinke	142	650.1	2015	2018	31-34	101	101	3	1	0	52	21	.712	0	540	230	217	136	621	3.00	3.35	24.1%	5.3%	.271	73	2577	4	7	0	20	LAD-ARI	.224	.267	.369	.636	70	17	11	103	13	44	15	22	3
6	Justin Verlander	142	648.1	2015	2018	32-35	99	99	4	2	0	43	27	.614	0	497	229	214	176	684	2.97	3.44	26.4%	6.8%	.259	75	2590	6	19	0	14	DET-HOU	.210	.268	.353	.621	68	7	19	94	10	28	18	12	8
7	Jacob deGrom	138	605.2	2015	2018	27-30	96	96	2	1	0	40	26	.606	0	518	211	194	152	672	2.88	3.06	27.5%	6.2%	.299	62	2441	8	10	0	17	NYM	.231	.281	.352	.633	75	19	16	78	4	45	31	15	0
8	Madison Bumgarner	136	556.0	2015	2017	25-27	83	83	9	3	0	37	27	.578	0	461	193	181	113	586	2.93	3.24	26.3%	5.1%	.276	64	2231	5	18	1	5	SFG	.222	.267	.367	.634	75	10	11	92	9	32	16	12	6
9	Kyle Hendricks	135	572.1	2015	2018	25-28	97	96	3	2	0	35	23	.603	0	485	208	193	140	511	3.03	3.53	22.2%	6.1%	.274	59	2305	8	20	1	8	CHC	.229	.282	.361	.643	75	19	6	89	7	42	43	14	15
10	Chris Sale	133	724.2	2015	2018	26-29	107	107	8	1	0	52	31	.627	0	592	274	255	150	919	3.17	2.90	31.6%	5.2%	.298	83	2911	2	44	0	12	CHW-BOS	.220	.271	.361	.632	70	9	13	113	10	43	24	9	3

Scherzer is second in ERA+ only to Kershaw and Scherzer has 21.5% more innings than Kershaw.

Scherzer is tied with Arrieta for most wins: 58.

Scherzer is first in K% (percentage of batters faced who struck out)

Scherzer has the third lowest OPS+ against behind Kershaw and Kluber.

Scherzer won the American League Cy Young award with Detroit in 2013. Let's look at the top pitchers 2013-2018 based on 860 innings ((162*5)+50).

Rk	Player	ERA+	IP	From	To	Age	G	GS	CG	SHO	GF	W	L	W-L%	SV	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	FIP	K%	BB%	BAbip	HR	BF	IBB	HBP	BK	WP	Tm	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	SH	SF	2B	3B	GDP	SB	CS	PO
1	Clayton Kershaw	188	1035.0	2013	2018	25-30	148	148	17	10	0	84	31	.730	0	739	253	229	176	1194	1.99	2.27	30.2%	4.5%	.270	73	3951	4	12	12	40	LAD	.198	.236	.300	.536	52	26	8	132	13	69	21	20	22
2	Max Scherzer	146	1164.0	2013	2018	28-33	174	174	9	5	0	97	34	.740	0	862	386	365	282	1428	2.82	2.85	31.0%	6.1%	.273	122	4604	8	36	4	34	DET-WSN	.203	.258	.348	.606	65	28	22	208	19	53	51	26	3
3	Corey Kluber	146	1102.1	2013	2018	27-32	164	162	16	6	1	81	45	.643	0	918	390	358	232	1220	2.92	2.88	27.9%	5.3%	.294	105	4381	9	35	2	21	CLE	.225	.272	.357	.629	68	25	11	202	11	83	49	32	1
4	Jake Arrieta	141	878.0	2013	2018	27-32	142	142	6	5	0	73	35	.676	0	653	313	277	278	851	2.84	3.21	24.2%	7.9%	.258	65	3516	9	30	0	46	CHC-BAL-PHI	.206	.275	.321	.596	65	15	15	140	16	65	102	23	3
5	Zack Greinke	139	1030.1	2013	2018	29-34	161	161	4	2	0	84	33	.718	0	882	353	330	225	976	2.88	3.26	23.7%	5.5%	.281	105	4115	8	16	0	37	LAD-ARI	.231	.275	.367	.643	77	32	16	171	19	77	24	28	5
6	Chris Sale	138	1113.0	2013	2018	24-29	163	163	14	2	0	75	49	.605	0	905	403	370	235	1353	2.99	2.90	30.3%	5.3%	.294	119	4462	6	69	1	23	CHW-BOS	.219	.272	.351	.623	70	13	20	163	12	73	47	15	5
7	Johnny Cueto	131	915.1	2013	2018	27-32	139	139	11	6	0	65	37	.637	0	780	327	306	233	829	3.01	3.48	22.3%	6.3%	.278	88	3715	7	43	7	9	CIN-KCR-SFG	.230	.286	.364	.651	81	29	12	159	17	64	20	19	14
8	Madison Bumgarner	129	974.2	2013	2017	23-27	147	147	13	5	0	68	46	.596	0	801	342	315	218	1004	2.91	3.16	25.7%	5.6%	.278	100	3907	14	30	2	15	SFG	.222	.271	.356	.627	77	29	20	158	13	65	31	29	18
9	Stephen Strasburg	129	920.1	2013	2018	24-29	150	150	2	2	0	69	39	.639	0	756	355	318	235	1058	3.11	2.98	28.5%	6.3%	.293	91	3711	12	33	4	27	WSN	.222	.278	.351	.629	73	26	14	140	13	67	44	25	0
10	Jon Lester	127	1078.1	2013	2018	29-34	171	171	6	2	0	78	46	.629	0	965	430	382	296	1029	3.19	3.38	23.3%	6.7%	.294	104	4409	4	32	0	24	BOS-OAK-CHC	.239	.295	.374	.669	83	23	18	203	16	87	122	48	3

Again Scherzer is second only to Kershaw and again Scherzer pitched more innings than Kershaw, 12.5% more innings.

Scherzer had the most wins, 97 to Kershaw's 84 for second.

Scherzer is first in K%.

Kershaw had the lowest OPS+ against and Scherzer is tied with Arrieta for second.

Among the rich teams:
Yankees didn't sign Scherzer and have no pitcher on either list.
Dodgers: Kershaw and Greinke 2013-2015.
Cubs: Arrieta 2013-2017; Lester 2015-2018
Red Sox: Sale 2017-2018; Lester 2013-2014

Nationals: Strasburg 2013-2018

Do the Yankees realize that they made a mistake? And they could have traded for Sale or Verlander.