It Sure Sounds Like Max Scherzer Is Complaining About Hitters Trying To ... Hit?

Washington Nationals star Max Sherzer doesn't seem happy with the way baseball is going these days. More specifically, Sherzer appears irritated by opposing batters' approach at the plate.

Sherzer implied that batters are attacking his pitches early in the count. That's no sin. That's what hitters are supposed to do. But Sherzer's not a fan.

“I feel like it’s been happening more and more in my career. Guys are going up there early hacking,” Scherzer told reporters after surrendering two solo home runs in a 2-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds earlier this week.

“It’s even to the first pitch of the game, it doesn’t matter. I know that going into almost every start now, that every hitter is going to swing — they’re up there just swinging against me. There’s no free fastballs, there’s no free strike ones. Every pitch has to have intent on it, otherwise that’s how they catch me and they catch a mistake and they hit a homer.

“I’m cognizant of that, that’s fine. You can pitch around it, you can sequence around that, and you can be better at it once you know that that’s their approach.”

This was a fairly odd take for someone who has had a lot of success and who likely understands the game. You pitch, hitters try to hit.

“The whole league has been aggressive against me. They’re all swinging first pitch of the game,” Scherzer said.

He did finally admit that maybe the pitches that resulted in solo shots were his own fault and that the hitters just doing their job. What a concept, huh?

“Homers are mistakes, and so when you give up a couple, you’re making a couple mistakes," Sherzer said. "It can happen at any point in this league. The guys in the rest of the league, they have their swings crafted so when you make a mistake thigh-high, they can hit the ball out of the ballpark at will. That’s the common thread from every home run that I basically give up, is that I’m not executing that specific pitch.”