maxwell m. scherzer (born july 27, 1984), nicknamed mad max, is an american professional baseball pitcher for the washington nationals of major league baseball (mlb). he made his mlb debut as a member of the arizona diamondbacks in 2008, and later played for the detroit tigers, prior to joining the nationals. he has been an important figure in the both the tigers' and nationals' playoff presence, including detroit's four consecutive american league central titles from 2011 to 2014 and two of washington's national league east titles, culminating in winning the 2019 world series as a wild card team. a power pitcher with a low three-quarter-arm delivery, scherzer has achieved numerous strikeout records and distinctions. he is the tenth pitcher in history to garner at least three cy young awards, the sixth to record two no-hitters in one season, the fifth to produce more than one immaculate inning, and the second to strike out at least 200 batters in a season eight years in a row. he is regarded as one of the greatest pitchers of all time.