Max Scherzer averaged under 93 mph on his fastball in his return from suspension Wednesday night, and his average fastball velocity this season is under 94 mph for the first time in nine years.
With less juice on his heater, Scherzer was knocked around by the Tigers, allowing six runs on eight hits through 3.1 innings of work, as the Mets were swept in Wednesday's doubleheader and have dropped eight of their last 10 games.
For Scherzer, getting more life on his fastball is priority number one.
"Another tick or two. I want to be sitting 94, that's who I've been," Scherzer said. "To me that's more of the issue when I'm averaging 92.5 mph. I'm down a tick and a half. You gotta figure out what's going on. To me, that's the bigger issue."
Scherzer also didn't have the accuracy he was hoping for, as it didn't seem he had anything going in his first start since being ejected in Los Angeles following a check for sticky substances by Phil Cuzzi and the umpiring crew.
"Just didn't do a good job of locating," Scherzer said. "Kind of spraying the ball in the first, and didn't do well out of the stretch. When you have a long layoff, that's kind of one of the first things that goes, pitching out of the stretch. That's where I made a lot of my mistakes, and that's where I got beat, and that's the adjustment I have to make.
"For me, the number one thing is getting through this start healthy, back, good. Check mark. Now we can get going again."
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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