Max Scherzer lists his stats in the wrong order

Notes on a whiteboard

Max Scherzer is arguably the greatest Dodgers trade deadline acquisition ever. Counting the postseason, which for Scherzer was cut short by what he called muscle fatigue, the right-hander was 7-1 with a 2.01 ERA and 2.17 FIP in 85 innings with Los Angeles, with 112 strikeouts and 13 walks in 14 starts and one fateful relief appearance.

Scherzer was voted by MLB players as the best pitcher in the National League in 2021, and he’s in contention for the NL Cy Young Award, which if he wins would be his fourth Cy Young, a feat only accomplished by four other pitchers. We’ll find out the Cy Young results on November 17.

He also lists his statistics in a weird order!

During the MLB postseason, there are a handful of commercials that play over and over again, to the point where the content of those ads become etched in our brains. One such ad is for Indeed, with Scherzer coaching someone through the process of searching for a job.

The ad is mostly fine, and even funny at times, like when the trademark Scherzer intensity — he uses the term “Max focus” — is on full display. The timing of the commercial is also perfect, given that Scherzer will be a free agent this week, though I’m guessing he won’t need the services of Indeed to find his next employer.

Back in the universe of this ad, there is also a whiteboard on which Scherzer gives the advice, “Make sure your stats are up to date.”

Scherzer writes the final stat on a long list, which upon further inspection is his FanGraphs WAR. We are made to believe Scherzer wrote all those stats himself, which would be amazing if he could recite his annual career stats by memory. But there is one very disturbing aspect of the whiteboard full of of Scherzer stats: He lists his seasons in reverse chronological order!

From an Indeed commercial

Further zooming in, the order of years becomes clear, and the stats match. But 2020 is the year on top, with his rookie year of 2008 on the bottom. This is the opposite of what baseball cards have taught us for decades, and not really the normal way to order things.

Scherzer likely wasn’t the one who made this decision. Some production assistant probably wrote out all the stats in that order, leaving Scherzer only the final number to add with the camera rolling. But it’s still weird.

Then again, I probably spend too much time dissecting baseball-related whiteboards in the background.