Frustrated Scherzer shuts himself down in Blue Jays 9-5 loss to O's

Won’t pitch again until right thumb is 100-percent

In his much-anticipated regular-season debut, after signing a one-year contract for $15.5-million, earlier in the spring, Blue Jays’ righthander Max Scherzer managed just three inning on Saturday against the Orioles, allowing a pair of solo homers and taking the loss. Of concern, he removed himself from the game in an emotional dugout discussion with the manager that was caught on television between innings.

“Got to today, warming up, I could feel that my (right) lat was tight,” Scherzer explained in the quiet of the postgame hallway, just outside the home clubhouse.

“I let Pete (Walker) know, I let (John Schneider) know, before the game, ‘Hey, work with me here. Just know that something could be happening.’ I was able to get through the first three innings. I just didn’t feel like I could really let the ball go. I had to back down the effort level. I was at least able to get through three and not blow up the bullpen. After the third, I could kind of tell we were in imminent danger. At that point it was the best decision for the team, myself, to get out of the ballgame.”

Mad Max was more like Frustrated Max. The future Hall-of-Famer is certain that the lat problem is directly related to the thumb issues we heard so much about at spring training. It’s a problem that he said he has basically been dealing with since 2023 and is the root of all evil. He swears he won’t pitch again until the thumb is 100-percent.

“My whole arm is making adjustments because of that,” Scherzer explained. “That’s the recipe for disaster, so fortunately I recognized what was going on here, that it was actually in my lat. My lat was picking up too much of the slack. I had to come out of the game because of it.

“I’m frustrated. I want to pitch. I know I can pitch. I know I can throw the ball really well. Unfortunately, I’ve got an issue going on. It’s coming from the thumb. I have to zero out that thumb before I pitch again.”

As a 40-year-old veteran who has experienced diminished physical skills since being one of the game’s elite, back in his prime with the Tigers and Nationals, he has compensated for that loss by having a much better understanding of his body and the things he is now capable of physically. He is pragmatic and no longer a risk-taker.

“I’ve been in some messed up situations before and you kind of find a way to navigate,” Scherzer said. “You’ve been really hurting and even when you’re hurting you can find a way to go out there and navigate. I was hoping for that to happen, but I could just tell, once you get through three innings, then you’re going to start fatiguing. I’ve had bad things happen in the past and that was kind of my signal to get out of the ballgame.”

There is no timeline set for a Mad Max return to the mound. He had been Stoically dealing with the thumb throughout the spring, but had made four excellent, promising, dominant starts. Then this.

Where it goes from here, even Max is not willing to speculate., He needs to consult with the team’s medical staff and go from there. But almost certainly, the Jays will need to find an interim starter, likely lefthander Eric Lauer, who has major-league experience and was just okay at spring training for the Jays. Lauer threw four innings for the AAA-Bisons in their home opener on Friday.

“There was no pitch where it hurt,” Scherzer shrugged. “I have to figure out this thumb. I’m dealing with thumb discomfort. I have to get it 100-percent healthy. I’ve been dealing with this for so long, I can’t pitch through this injury. There are injuries you can pitch through. You can pitch through a lot. But this thumb is absolutely critical to your arm health, so I’ve got to get this 100-percent before I pitch again.”

The Scherzer thumb/lat situation complicates the team’s starting pitching plans. After Saturday’s loss to the Orioles, dropping the record to 1-2, the Jays play the final game of the four-game set on Sunday behind Chris Bassitt, then welcome the Nationals for three with Bowden Francis toeing the rubber on Monday. Scherzer’s next scheduled start would have been April 4, in New York against the Mets.