Scherzer back – Max Scherzer’s season was interrupted again after a left-side back spasm forced him back to the injured list a week after his activation. The Blue Jays recalled Chad Dallas for bullpen support, prepared Yimi Garcia for a Thursday rehab decision, and have Shane
Fenway Park was just waking up when Max Scherzer felt it—again.
The 41-year-old woke up Monday with a knot in the left side of his back, after throwing a bullpen the day before and initially feeling fine. He got some treatment on the off-day, played catch as usual on Tuesday, still felt the spasm, and then woke up Wednesday feeling worse. By then, he called it.
One week after being activated, the future Hall of Famer was headed right back to the injured list.
“I wasn’t progressing, if anything I was going backwards,” Scherzer said in the centre of the visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park. “I’m just not in a position to make a start.”
The injury immediately threw the Blue Jays back into roster churn. Chad Dallas was recalled, scrambled at nearly the last second from Triple-A Buffalo on a day he was supposed to follow a rehabbing Shane Bieber.
In the short term, it meant another bullpen game shape—Braydon Fisher serving as an opener for the fifth time. But the club’s next few days were already set to stay fluid. Bieber’s Wednesday rehab effort versus Charlotte—five innings that produced five runs on seven hits and four walks with two strikeouts—placed him on a track the team can adjust around when his turn comes again on Monday.
From a workload and volume perspective. Bieber’s pitch count hit 80 while his fastball averaged 91.8 mph and held over five frames. topping out at 93. The Blue Jays are scheduled to meet him in Chicago during this weekend’s three-game set versus the Cubs. and they will gauge “how he feels about competing” in the majors.
Yimi Garcia is part of that same tightrope. He’s slated to appear in another rehab game Thursday to see how he feels pitching twice in three days, and the Blue Jays may need to risk some of their depth pitching to make room if either option is ready.
Schneider, speaking with the club’s plan in mind, put the stakes plainly: “Discount double-check, yeah.” He pointed to Garcia’s experience—“the guy’s got 10 years in”—and said the staff will listen to what he can do before pushing the workload.
“At the very least, can you go every other day to start and then see where you’re at?” Schneider said. “The last thing we want to do is burn through guys. lose guys via waivers or something like that. that could help us and then not be sure about his availability. So we’ll make sure he’s feeling good after (Thursday), revisit it and see where we go.”.
Scherzer’s own message was that the latest setback is not expected to linger. He doesn’t anticipate being out long. describing his back spasm as “a time thing … nothing more than that.” For now. he’ll rest. take various treatments. and work to get himself right as he tries to get back into the mix in two weeks.
It’s the stop-and-start nature of his season that has become the story. He had just built up after forearm tendinitis sidelined him for six weeks. returning to make just one start—last week’s 7-4 loss to the Phillies—when he allowed five runs in 3.1 innings. Whether he can keep his volume steady while down is now the question hanging over the next step.
“That will be dependant on when I get back out, how quickly we can get through this and figure out what’s going to happen here next,” Scherzer said. “Right now it’s just taking a day at a time, get rid of the spasm, get back to feeling healthy like I was. Very frustrating.”
The numbers only add to the frustration. He is carrying a 10.23 ERA in six outings, with twice throwing six innings and then going 3.1 innings or less in the other four. He has also allowed nine homers in 22 innings.
Still, he insisted the injury hasn’t changed what he believes he can do. Scherzer said his arm feels right now—“because my arm feels like it’s in a really great spot right now”—and he believes he can help the team win once he’s healthy enough to start.
“I absolutely have the utmost belief that I can be out there. I can be pitching. I can help the team win. Nothing that has happened has changed any course of that,” Scherzer said. “I’ve just got to get through this. I just have another thing I’ve got to deal with and get over. These things happen when you’re 41 years old trying to pitch. That’s the hand I’m dealt and now I’ve got to overcome it.”.
Max Scherzer Blue Jays injured list back spasm Chad Dallas Braydon Fisher Shane Bieber Yimi Garcia rehab game Fenway Park Cubs
Back spasm again?? Man the injuries this season are wild.
I don’t even get how they activated him and then a week later it’s another IL stint. Seems like they should’ve just waited longer? Also why are they changing bullpen stuff every other day, it’s exhausting.
Chad Dallas got called up but they’re saying he was supposed to follow a rehab Shane Bieber… like that’s the same guy? I’m confused. Thought Fenway Park was in Chicago too or am I mixing that up?
This feels like the kind of injury that keeps flaring up forever. “Not in a position to make a start” yeah okay, but he was just on the roster like yesterday right? And now it’s bullpen games again with an opener like five times—baseball teams always act surprised when bodies break.