Remember Jack Cassel? No? Max Scherzer does. He was the first. Victim No. 1 of what has become 2,005.
Let’s refresh the brain: Cassel, older brother to quarterback Matt, had a brief major-league career as a starting pitcher. He swung at and missed a fastball from Scherzer on April 29, 2008, to become his first strikeout. Scherzer was making his major-league debut for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was a hot-shot first-round pick, drafted 11th overall two years prior by a scouting department which Mike Rizzo ran. That day, Scherzer struck out seven in 4 u2153 innings out of the bullpen.