Former Phillies GM calls Max Scherzer the Phillies’ “Nemesis”

Former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. calls Max Scherzer the Phillies’ “nemesis”

The Philadelphia Phillies are playing host to the Los Angeles Dodgers for three games this week, which means that an old rival is back in town, albeit in a new uniform.

Former Washington Nationals star Max Scherzer made a short start for the Dodgers in Tuesday’s series opener, before a rain delay knocked out both starters. It was both a blessing – the Phillies didn’t have to continue to face the dominant Scherzer – and a curse, seeing as Aaron Nola was actually pitching well, which has been a rarity this season.

Ahead of the series opener, former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. took to Twitter to give Phillies fans a preview, with a notable choice of words for Scherzer:

Amaro is known for his colorful tweets about the team he once played for and served as assistant GM and then GM. He still serves as a color commentator for their games on the actual broadcasts, as well as on social media.

Scherzer is one of the most well-respected pitchers in the game. It’s a forgone conclusion at this point that he’ll be in the Hall of Fame one day. He’s won three Cy Young awards, been an All-Star every year since 2013, and has a 2019 World Series ring.

It’s likely that Amaro simply meant “nemesis” in that Scherzer spent a significant portion of his career with the Phillies’ division rivals, and that he’s pitched so effectively against them throughout his career.

Coming into this series, Scherzer had a lifetime 2.55 ERA over 24 games against the Phillies, and had held their batters to a 203/.265/.343 slash line and .608 OPS. He’s been even more dominant against them in Philadelphia: a 2.33 ERA over 11 games, with Phillies lineups slashing .186/.246/.342 with a .589 OPS against him.

The Phillies and Max Scherzer have not gotten along well this year

But this also hasn’t been the greatest season for Scherzer in terms of the Phillies. At the start of the foreign substance ban, there was an incident between him and Phillies manager Joe Girardi, which led to Girardi charging the field and getting ejected from the game, and Nationals GM Mike Rizzo publically calling Girardi a “con artist.”

Then, there was Dave Roberts’ decision to start Scherzer over Zack Wheeler for the All-Star Game, even though Wheeler had been the superior pitcher to that point in the season. Roberts kept Wheeler on the bench until there were two outs in the ninth, an insult to the caliber of season Wheeler has been having. Fans speculated that it was the Dodgers’ way of buttering up the Nationals for a trade, and they ended up being right, as Scherzer and Trea Turner are now wearing Dodger blue.

None of these things are Scherzer’s fault, but Phillies fans certainly weren’t sad to see him and his powerful arm leave the division. In his absence, the Phillies swept the Nationals over four games last week. His first game back in Philly on Tuesday night ended the Phillies’ eight-game win streak.

Nemesis, indeed.