Here's How Max Scherzer's Rangers Debut Measures Up to Texas' Past Aces

New Texas Rangers starting pitcher Max Scherzer had a shaky first start post-trade deadline, but he found his footing and cobbled together one of the better debuts by the franchise's most prominent hurlers.

The Chicago White Sox shelled Scherzer for three runs in the first inning of Thursday afternoon's game in Arlington. From there, the former New York Mets ace tossed five scoreless frames to end on a high note.

Scherzer's final line was three earned runs, nine strikeouts and two walks in 6.0 innings. The Rangers' bullpen didn't allow any runs after Scherzer exited, and Texas wound up beating Chicago 5-3.

Fans and pundits sounded the alarm bells online when Scherzer's day got off to a shaky start, but he actually ended up having a better debut than most of the aces who have come through Texas.

Lone Star Ball's Christopher Fittz compiled the first pitching lines from several All-Stars, Cy Young winners and Hall of Famers who suited up for the Rangers at one point of another.

Between Gaylord Perry, Nolan Ryan, Cliff Lee, Yu Darvish, Cole Hamels, Corey Kluber and Jacob deGrom, none of them were able to put up a quality start in their Rangers debut. The seven of them combined to give up 30 runs in 37.1 innings, and Darvish was the only one who got a win before Scherzer.

After that laborious 1st inning, Scherzer ironically ended up having one of the better Rangers pitching debuts. pic.twitter.com/bJyMR2g8IM
— Christopher Fittz (@apoplecticfittz) August 3, 2023

Scherzer is now 10-4 on the season with a 4.04 ERA and 1.205 WHIP. The three-time Cy Young winner, eight-time All-Star and active leader in career strikeouts will cost the Rangers $10 million for the remainder of this season and $12.5 million in 2024.

The Rangers traded for Scherzer on Saturday, sending shortstop prospect Luisangel Acuña back to New York in return. The team also acquired starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery and reliever Chris Stratton from the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

Montgomery is scheduled to make his own Rangers debut Friday against the Miami Marlins. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET.

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