Mets' Max Scherzer admits to 'struggling' with pitch clock

New York Mets co-ace Max Scherzer isn't hiding the fact that he still hasn't quite adjusted to the new pitch clock embraced by MLB this year. 

"(The clock) is fast," Scherzer said after he improved to 2-1 on the season via Monday's 5-0 win over the San Diego Padres, per Bob Klapisch of NJ Advance Media. "Where I actually lose track of the clock the most is the start of the at-bat. That’s where I’m struggling right now." 

Scherzer experienced tough sixth innings in his first two starts of the season, and some fans were worried about the three-time Cy Young Award winner because he surrendered three straight home runs in a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers last Tuesday. 

After the 38-year-old admitted to dealing with some fatigue that could be linked with the clock that offers pitchers less time between offerings, Jon Heyman of the New York Post mentioned that a National League scout believes the hurried pace is more so impacting older starters this spring. 

In a piece published on Tuesday, Peter Botte of the Post noted that the Mets' pitching staff is "the oldest in the league with an average age of 31.9" and that the Amazins "began play Monday with the most pitch-clock violations — offensively and defensively — of any MLB team with 10." 

Scherzer allowed one hit and completed five scoreless innings with six strikeouts against San Diego. However, he also tossed 97 pitches before he was removed from the game after those five innings of work. 

"I thought I self-diagnosed [my last start] right," Scherzer added following Monday's win, according to The Post's Jared Schwartz. "I'm not broken. I wasn’t broken after the Milwaukee start. I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel, just had to fine-tune some things. That’s baseball. If you follow the results, you can make yourself go crazy at times. You’ve got to be able to reflect on what’s actually happening and know where you’re getting beat. I thought I identified the right things to be able to do, and I made better pitches because of that." 

Credit Scherzer for remaining positive, but the Mets will need better from the right-hander than five solid innings each start with fellow co-ace Justin Verlander currently sidelined due to a right teres major strain that's prevented him from making his official club debut. As things stand today, Verlander may make only one start, at most, this month.