the diamondbacks selected scherzer, a native of greater st. louis, in the first round and 11th overall of the 2006 amateur draft from the university of missouri. a seven-time mlb all-star, he is the fifth pitcher to start an all-star game for both the american and national leagues. he is a winner of three strikeout titles, a four-time wins leader, and a four-time walks plus hits per inning pitched (whip) leader. in addition to three cy young awards, he also finished second in its voting in 2018 and fifth in 2014 and 2015. one the most consistent hurlers of his era, he has made at least 30 starts each season from 2009 to 2018, and struck out at least 230 batters in each season from 2012 to 2018. in 2018, he reached 300 strikeouts for the first time. prior to the 2015 season, scherzer agreed to a seven-year, 210 million contract with the nationals, one of the largest in baseball history at its time.