Kershaw vs. Scherzer: A Historic Showdown Between Two Giants of the Game

For nearly two decades, the careers of Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer have run on parallel tracks, two generational pitchers defined by their intense competitiveness and sustained excellence. They are titans of the sport, and on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, their paths will likely cross for the final time. Scherzer, now pitching for the Blue Jays, will face his old team, the Dodgers, and his longtime rival, Kershaw, in a duel that is steeped in history.

This matchup is more than just a battle between two of the league's best; it's a living piece of baseball history, a final chapter in a rivalry that started when both were just rookies.

A Historic Matchup of 3,000-Strikeout Kings

The 3,000-strikeout club is one of baseball's most hallowed and exclusive groups, and Kershaw and Scherzer are the two most recent members to be initiated. The two are just the 19th and 20th pitchers in history to reach that illustrious total, with both having done so while wearing Dodger blue. Because of this exclusivity, matchups between two pitchers who have already reached this milestone are a rare and precious event. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is only the fourth such occurrence since the 1980s.

The History of Their Fabled Rivalry

Despite their long and intertwined careers, Kershaw and Scherzer have only faced each other five times as starters. Each meeting has been a notable chapter in their shared story.

• Sept. 7, 2008: Their story began as a coincidence. With two other Hall of Famers, Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux, scratched from the game, two rookies were given the ball. Both Kershaw and Scherzer gave up three runs and received no-decisions, but Scherzer was the more dominant of the two, striking out 11 batters.

• Oct. 7, 2016: They met again in the postseason for Game 1 of the NL Division Series. While neither pitcher had their best stuff, Kershaw got the win, and the two would later make history again when Kershaw came out of the bullpen on one day of rest to close out the series.

• April 20, 2018: Scherzer got the better of his counterpart in this regular-season matchup, and in a rare twist of fate, he also hit a single off Kershaw, the only hit either pitcher has recorded against the other.

• April 11, 2021: In what was their final matchup as foes, Kershaw outdueled Scherzer with six scoreless innings just a few months before they would become teammates on the Dodgers after a midseason trade.

The fact that these two pitchers faced each other as rookies and again now, 17 years later, is also historically significant. Per Elias, that 2008 game is the only instance in MLB history where two pitchers who started against each other as rookies went on to both reach 3,000 career strikeouts and are all but guaranteed a spot in the Hall of Fame.

A Statistical Comparison of Two Legends

The debate over who has had the better career is one with no wrong answer, as their statistical parallels are remarkable. Both pitchers are in the top three among active pitchers in a number of key categories.

Category	Kershaw	Scherzer
Starts	442 (3rd active)	465 (2nd active)
Innings	2,808.1 (3rd active)	2,919 (2nd active)
Wins	217 (3rd active)	218 (2nd active)
Strikeouts	3,010 (3rd active)	3,451 (2nd active)
bWAR	77.4 (2nd active)	74.8 (3rd active)
ERA	2.52 (1st active)	3.18 (5th active)
ERA+	155 (1st active)	132 (5th active)
WHIP	1.02 (2nd active)	1.08 (4th active)

The similarities go beyond the numbers. Both have won three Cy Young Awards, although Kershaw also has an MVP Award. Both have thrown no-hitters, though Scherzer has two to Kershaw's one. Both have two World Series rings. They are also two of the last of their kind—bulldogs with nasty stuff who have maintained their dominance by relying on immense wisdom about the craft of pitching. This final matchup is not just another game; it is a chance to appreciate greatness on the mound at its finest, a special moment in baseball history.