It’s Scherzer vs. Kershaw as the Blue Jays Take On the Dodgers

No matter which of the 30 teams you root for, tomorrow night’s contest between the Blue Jays and Dodgers will be the must-watch matchup of the day. 

For one thing, it could be an early World Series preview. According to FanGraphs, Toronto and L.A. have the highest odds of representing the AL and NL, respectively, in this year’s Fall Classic. The Dodgers have been the NL favorites all season, while the Blue Jays just climbed into the AL lead.

Yet, that storyline is only the second most compelling reason to tune in on Friday night. The number one reason? The starting pitchers. 

Barring a last-minute schedule change, the Blue Jays will send three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer to the hill. The Dodgers will counter with a three-time Cy Young winner of their own, Clayton Kershaw. It could very well be the fifth and final time the two superstars go head-to-head. 

The first time Scherzer and Kershaw faced one another was September 9, 2008. George W. Bush was the President of the United States. Instagram didn’t exist. Vernon Wells hit cleanup for the Blue Jays that day, and B.J. Ryan picked up the save. Eli Willits, this year’s first overall draft pick, was nine months old. 

No one else on the Jays’ or Dodgers’ current rosters had appeared in the big leagues. In fact, no one else on the Blue Jays was even playing in the minors at that point, and only two Dodgers, Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas, had begun their professional careers.

To make the matchup that day all the more interesting, neither Kershaw nor Scherzer was originally scheduled to pitch. At one point, the Dodgers had intended to send Greg Maddux to the mound, while the Diamondbacks planned to start Randy Johnson. Fans with tickets to the game were surely disappointed by the change; little did they know they were still going to see two future Hall of Famers duke it out. 

Scherzer was the better of the two rookies that day, striking out 11 and walking only one in five innings of work. Nevertheless, it was Kershaw’s Dodgers that came out on top.

The two have since faced one another twice more in the regular season and once in the playoffs. They also appeared in the same game (but not at the same time) on two other occasions. Kershaw came on in relief for the Dodgers in a 2016 NLDS game that Scherzer started for the Nationals. Three years later, it was Scherzer who threw an inning of relief for the Nationals in an NLDS game Kershaw had started for the Dodgers.

All told, Kershaw’s Dodgers have won four of the six games in which both have pitched. However, Scherzer has outpitched Kershaw, with a 3.00 ERA and 40 strikeouts to Kershaw’s 4.08 ERA and 26 K’s. 

Moreover, if we include All-Star Games, Scherzer ties things up. His AL All-Stars beat Kershaw’s NL squad in both the 2013 and ‘14 Midsummer Classics. 

Turning to the other side of the ball, Scherzer also has the statistical edge with the stick. In six plate appearances against Scherzer (regular season and playoffs), Kershaw is 0-for-4 with two sacrifice bunts. Meanwhile, Scherzer is 1-for-8 with a single against Kershaw. Each has struck the other out three times. 

Max Scherzer knocks a bloop single off of Clayton Kershaw. April 20, 2018.

Of course, Scherzer and Kershaw haven’t always been adversaries. From August to October of 2021, they were teammates in L.A. Kershaw was injured for much of that stretch, but the two started back-to-back games twice, including September 18 and 19, when they picked up consecutive wins against the Reds.

In addition, they were both NL All-Stars from 2015-17 and again in 2019. However, Scherzer did not play in the 2015 and ‘19 games, while Kershaw sat out in ‘16 and ‘17. Funnily enough, Kershaw only made the team in 2015 as a replacement for Scherzer. Thus, the two have never played for the same team in the same game. 

Over the past few years, both pitchers have seen their careers wind down at a similar pace. Neither is the overpowering ace he once was, but each remains a capable big league starter as he chases down milestones to pad his Hall of Fame case. Kershaw is one quality start away from 300 for his career. Scherzer is nearing 10th place on the all-time strikeouts leaderboard. 

On Friday, we’ll watch them face off, perhaps for the very last time. Or, as True Blue LA’s Eric Stephen joked on Bluesky, perhaps the Blue Jays and Dodgers will scratch the future Hall of Famers and start a couple of rookies instead, starting the cycle all over again.