Opening day pitching milestones

Opening day saw some historic milestones reached on the pitching side.

* Tucson's Max Scherzer held Arkansas hitless over 6 innings, ultimately pitching a 1-hitter in a 2-0 opening day victory for the King Snakes. He finished with 6 strikeouts. Still scoreless to start the 7th, Scherzer plunked Brendan Donovan and Michael Brantley followed with a single in what looked like it could be a big inning for the Golden Falcons. Rafael Devers stepped to the plate and promptly lined out to 2B Jose Altuve, starting a triple play and that was that. Turner Ward's 2-run bomb in the bottom of the 7th provided the scoring.

Scherzer, who turns 39 in July, recorded his 163rd career win, breaking a tie for 14th all-time with Andy Pettitte. Depending on his health in the 2023 season, he could break into the top 10 in all-time wins, chasing Kevin Brown (169), Tom Glavine (170), Mike Mussina (174) and if things go really well, Roy Halladay (179). After that, it's going to take some more time (like 2024 or later) to catch the DMBL's 6 200-game winners. Scherzer is 3rd among active pitchers in wins, trailing Zack Greinke of Hillsborough (206), Justin Verlander of Marietta, who returns in 2023 after a year away, and Hoboken's Clayton Kershaw. More on them later.

		W
1	Maddux*	232
2	JohnsonR*	230
3	Clemens*	211
4	MartinezP*	207
5	Greinke	206
6	Schilling*	205
7	Halladay*	179
8	Verlander	178
9	Mussina*	174
10	Kershaw	174
11	Smoltz*	172
12	Glavine*	170
13	BrownK*	169
14	Pettitte*	162
15	Scherzer	162

* All-time wins through 2022 season. Asterisk denotes retired; bold italics are active

The shutout was the 11th of Scherzer's career. He had been tied with Jake Peavy and Johan Santana at No. 20 on the all-time league records. He now ranks 17th, tied with David Price, Roy Oswalt and Justin Verlander, who looks to add to his total in 2023 after taking a year off.

* Clayton Kershaw of Hoboken opened 2023 with 174 wins, tied with Mike Mussina for No. 10 in DMBL history. The left-hander picked up the win in the Cutters' opening day 4-1 victory over Empire City, scattering 4 hits and 1 run over 7 innings. Kershaw moves into sole possession of 9th place on the all-time wins list with 175. At 35, health will play a big role in how his 2023 will go but reaching 200 wins in 2023 would require quite an other-worldly campaign.

The 2017 DMBL Series MVP is more likely only to pass Halladay (179) this season and battle Verlander among active leaders in wins. Closer on the horizon for Kershaw is likely to be 3,000 strikeouts. After his opening day win, he's just 5 Ks away, which would make him only 2nd pitcher in the DMBL to do it - and both would be left-handers (Randy Johnson is No. 1 all time with 3,408). The 3,000-strikeout club probably will add two more members in 2023: Scherzer (2,862) is 138 strikeouts away and Greinke (2,848) needs 152 strikeouts.

* Verlander makes his return to the DMBL this season after missing all of 2022 with an injury. He also picked up the opening-day win for the Mighty Men, a 5-0 triumph over Hillsborough. The 40-year-old tossed 2-hit ball over 7 innings, finishing with 5 strikeouts. The win was No. 179 for his career, matching Halladay for No. 7 all-time. It likely would take a McDonald contending campaign (22 wins) for Verlander to reach the 200-win plateau during 2023. Next on the list, Curt Schilling at 205 wins, is almost assuredly out of reach this season (barring a record 27-win season...).

* Greinke is the active leader in wins and most other categories, including game starts. Another 39-year-old, he became the first player in DMBL history with 500 career starts when he took the mound on Sunday for Hillsborough. He picked up the win a 6-5 triumph over Blue Ridge, despite allowing 5 runs on 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings.

Greinke passed Greg Maddux (497) for No. 1 all-time late last season and the Hit Men kept him around for 2023 to add to his career numbers. A strong season (182 innings) and the 2010 McDonald Award winner could break Maddux's league record for innings pitched (3,415.3). More likely, however, is moving up the wins list. Greinke's first win of 2023 tied him with Pedro Martinez (207) for No. 4 all-time and he's only 5 wins from Roger Clemens (211) at No. 3. After that, we're talking 2024 before he can think about catching Johnson (230) or Maddux (232).