Blue Jays’ Max Scherzer returns aiming at history

Max Scherzer’s wait is finally over. After more than a month-and-a-half on the IL rehabbing nagging injuries, the veteran right-hander is set to start for the Toronto Blue Jays in the series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night, with his

For more than a month-and-a-half, Max Scherzer has been living away from the mound—rehabbing nagging injuries on the IL while the game continued without him. When asked what that stretch feels like, the veteran right-hander doesn’t search for softer words.

“It stinks.”

On Wednesday night, he’s back.

Scherzer is set to take the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays in the series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, with the game airing on Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet+. It will be his sixth start of the season. and he’s stepping into a moment the Blue Jays know can matter: they’re trying to win again for a second straight time and push back above .500 after last year’s World Series finalists have spent this season at that mark. even if only briefly.

“I just want to get back out here and be part of the team,” Scherzer said in the Blue Jays clubhouse on a recent afternoon, shortly after his two oldest kids ran off in search of drinks and snacks. “I want to go out there and provide some energy for the boys, go out there and try to win.”

Manager John Schneider’s excitement is practical, but it’s also personal. He welcomes Scherzer’s experience and intensity back into the clubhouse, the kind of presence that changes the atmosphere when a game-day starter is walking in.

“Max raises the level of awareness when he’s on the mound and, you know, he’s very engaged with what he’s doing,” Schneider said. “He kind of keeps everybody on edge a little bit, just with the way he goes about his game.”

Scherzer’s return isn’t only about Toronto’s win column. It’s also about the numbers that have followed him through 19 seasons, including a career total that’s about to get even closer to one of the most exclusive milestones in pitching.

He enters Wednesday’s start searching for Toronto’s 34th win of the season and the 223rd win of his career. He also needs just one strikeout to reach 3. 500 for his career. and he’s 10 strikeouts shy of moving into the all-time top 10 in that category. Justin Verlander, who has 3,554 punchouts across his 21 seasons, is the lone active pitcher ahead of Scherzer.

Kevin Gausman—another Toronto starter—frames the moment as more than just a milestone. In his view, it’s a piece of history that may not come again in his lifetime.

“To be that good for that long is really something that I don’t think you’re ever going to see again, to be honest,” Gausman said. “I think him and Verlander are going to be the last 3,500-strikeout guys. I just don’t see anyone playing that long with that level of success.”

Gausman also understands the appeal of watching Scherzer do it now, not just back when he was younger. Scherzer is the MLB’s second-oldest active player. behind only Verlander. and Gausman—35—says the idea of a 41-year-old “Max Max” from Missouri becoming a blueprint for pitching into the 40s sounds far-fetched after seeing how Scherzer operates up close.

“Some of the stuff he does, I would fall apart after one month doing that — like, he’s an absolute animal,” Gausman said.

There’s information in Scherzer’s approach, but there’s also a relentless physical edge.

“He has one speed and one gear … and his foot on the gas. He beats himself up all the time, but that’s what he’s always done,” Gausman said.

Scherzer’s body may feel different as the years add up—he’s candid that he’s older and “definitely” feels aches and pains more—but he insists the core structure hasn’t changed much.

“I’m older and I definitely feel some aches and pains more,” Scherzer said. “On the other hand, I really haven’t changed much.”

He says he can still do his same kind of program and that, when his body feels good, he gets out working and training to be ready.

“I’m able to still do my same kind of program. I can still do a lot of things that I was doing 10 years ago,” Scherzer said. “There’s a lot of times my body feels great. where I can really be out there running around and feel young. So. for me it’s a mentality — and any time my body feels good. I’m out there working and training to get ready.”.

What stands out about Scherzer’s season so far is that it has come in sharp contrasts. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in three of his starts this year. but he also surrendered eight in another and seven in his most recent. That most recent start ended early: on April 24. he left the game due to right arm tendinitis after just two innings.

Despite the unevenness of the results, Scherzer arrives with a career-high 9.64 ERA this season, and he knows exactly what he’ll be chasing when he’s on the mound again: better execution, especially with the kind of rhythm he and Toronto are counting on.

Schneider said what he wants from the version of Scherzer the Blue Jays saw in the postseason—when he could work through lineups and navigate pitch counts.

“When he’s in a good spot and feels good and his stuff is where it should be. you take Max competing against anyone. ” Schneider said. “I said it when we signed him again in spring. it’s kind of like we want the version that we saw in the post-season where you can navigate a lineup. you can get through 85. 95. 100 pitches and keep yourself in the game. So. we feel like he’s in a physical spot to do that. and when he’s executing. he’s pretty good.”.

Even with that intensity, Scherzer makes a clear distinction between being “ready” and being in game-mode. He won’t flip the switch until later on Wednesday afternoon.

“When I come in, I’m talking to everybody — like, I’m normal,” Scherzer said.

Then the preparation begins the way it has for years, from the food to the study.

About three-and-a-half hours before first pitch. Scherzer says he will eat a couple of chicken sandwiches—he’s changed from roast beef. which he used to go with for years—and get into his homework. He’ll “crash-course” what’s in front of him. diving into what he has. what the reports are going to be. and how the plan comes together to pitch.

He also said he’s become less superstitious. He’s used the example of putting on shorts under his baseball pants for an extra layer in cold weather years ago. only to discover they were on backwards. forcing him to keep wearing them until he finally gave up a run and decided it was time to put the shorts on right.

Nowadays the shorts are gone, but other parts of his routine are still fixed.

At around 5:30 p.m., roughly an hour-and-a-half before first pitch, his headphones go on, the music starts—usually rap—and he’s done talking to teammates. The message is simple: leave him alone.

During the game, the conversation isn’t about small talk. He’ll only talk about defense, pitching, and getting someone out.

“Anything that has to do with defence, pitching, getting somebody out — yeah, we can talk, I’m fine,” Scherzer said. “I am not talking about anything else.”

After the outing, he flips it back off.

“I’ll flip the switch off,” Scherzer said. “But when I have that switch on, there’s only one thing on my mind.”

That “one thing” shows up in all the details, according to Gausman—right down to the habits people have picked up from him.

Gausman said Scherzer is the only teammate he’s ever had who travels with a keyboard. It’s a change that came after Scherzer learned the fine motor skills needed to play the piano helped with an issue he had with his right thumb. Gausman said Scherzer is “pretty good now. ” but admits the early days weren’t exactly a gift to the starting rotation.

“Last season, I think we might have been in Detroit and I was starting and he was playing and I could hear it, and I was just like: ‘Man, this is tough to listen to before a game, you know?’” Gausman said.

It’s part of what Gausman calls Scherzer’s ability to understand what his body needs, down to specific anatomy.

“If he was sitting here and his knee’s hurting. if you were like. ‘Oh. is it your meniscus?’ He’d be like. ‘No it’s actually this strand. it connects to here. ’” Gausman said. describing Scherzer’s explanations with his own pointed gesture. “He’s like that with everything. You talk about his shoulder, and he’s like ‘It’s not the elbow, it’s the infraspinatus.’”.

Even the way Scherzer throws the bullpen has started to spread. Gausman said Scherzer throws his bullpen in full get-up. full game uni—“belt. everything.” Gausman added that before Scherzer arrived. teammates sometimes treated the bullpen more casually. The shift has been direct: now more players have adopted the “treating this like a start” mindset, belt and all.

“We’ve definitely taken that from him. Everybody does that now, across the board,” Gausman said.

When Scherzer was asked what advice he’d give younger pitchers for long careers, he didn’t squeeze his answer into something quick. He called it “a multitude” and “a whole other conversation,” before laying out the essentials.

“You’ve got to stay athletic,” Scherzer said, pointing to his routine. He said he played pickup basketball every off-season until he was about 39. He said basketball is no longer part of the mix after surgery to repair a herniated disc. but that biking. running. and swimming—among other sports—are still in.

He also described shared time with Gausman’s family in the off-season. Gausman said Scherzer “swam all day, every day — and it wasn’t like he was just going back and forth. He’s always doing something.” Gausman said Scherzer would describe it as a way to feel tightness loosening.

“I can feel I was a little tight right here, and now I’m not,” Gausman said, describing Scherzer’s comments.

Scherzer’s broader message was durability and preparation. He said training to be athletic helps absorb the stress of the mound. He also stressed studying mechanics and studying oneself, along with watching the mechanics of great pitchers.

“There’s a kind of mantra in the game right now that everybody’s going to blow out. ‘Everybody blows, right?. Everybody blows out.’ I hate that,” Scherzer said. “I’m still standing here saying like. ‘No. I don’t have any surgeries on my arm.’ It’s a stupid kind of thought process within the game. So, you’ve got to be durable. That’s got to be your No. 1 goal, not talent. Like, be durable.”.

He added another piece: being athletic first, even for kids.

“This also goes for kids, too,” Scherzer said. “We’ve got a five-year-old who’s about to get in Little League and you kind of hear the horror stories that come through and, you know, how young they try to specialize in baseball, and it just makes me want to pull my hair out.”

He pushed back on early specialization.

“Like, no. Play as many sports as possible. You want to be as good an athlete as possible. When you’re 16 years old, yeah, we can talk about what’s your specialty. But be an athlete first.”

Now, the advice has to turn into the work.

With 47 days since his last start, Scherzer will make his 23rd start for the Blue Jays on Wednesday. He said he’s looking forward to it almost immediately.

“Oh, so much,” Scherzer said. “It’s too much fun pitching in the big leagues, and I can’t wait to get out there.”

Max Scherzer Toronto Blue Jays Philadelphia Phillies MLB IL right arm tendinitis 3 500 strikeouts John Schneider Kevin Gausman