Max Scherzer received a cortisone shot to treat the inflammation in his right thumb, the future Hall of Famer told reporters (including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet). The Jays will have a better idea of when he could return after they see how he responds.
Scherzer’s thumb has bothered him back to last summer, when it was linked to some kind of nerve problem in his hand. The injury resurfaced this spring. Scherzer opened the season on the active roster but departed his first start in a Jays’ uniform after three innings and 45 pitches because of lat discomfort. The three-time Cy Young winner said postgame that the thumb was the cause of his other issues. “My arm is making adjustments because of that. That’s a recipe for disaster,” he told reporters on Saturday.
The Jays placed Scherzer on the injured list the next day. It’s a frustrating situation for the righty. Scherzer acknowledged on Tuesday that he has had conversations with doctors about the potential for surgery, but he said they’re “not even close to that” scenario right now (via Hazel Mae). He added that he’s hopeful he can begin playing catch again as soon as Friday.
Toronto has an opening in their rotation around Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt and Bowden Francis. It initially seemed that Yariel Rodríguez would step into the starting five after beginning the season in the bullpen. Rodríguez has continued working in a leverage role since Scherzer’s injury. He fired a scoreless inning to earn a hold on Sunday. He came on tonight in relief of Berríos and tossed another inning (allowing one run) to pick up his second hold.
The Jays list left-hander Easton Lucas as their probable starter for tomorrow’s series finale against the Nationals. They’ll push Gausman to Friday, giving him six days rest early in the season. They’re off on Thursday but will begin a stretch of 13 consecutive game days between April 4-16. They’ll probably want a fifth starter by the middle of next week.
Tomorrow’s start will be the first in the big leagues for the 28-year-old Lucas. He has 18 1/3 career innings across 14 relief appearances between the A’s, Tigers and Jays. Lucas worked out of the bullpen for all but four of his 38 Triple-A outings last year. He combined for an impressive 2.75 earned run average with a 26.2% strikeout rate over 68 2/3 innings. Lucas worked mostly 1-2 inning stints, but he made a five-inning start during his final Triple-A appearance. He topped out at 2 2/3 frames in a game in Spring Training, so they’ll likely lean heavily on the bullpen behind him tomorrow. Rodríguez, Jake Bloss and non-roster veteran Eric Lauer are alternatives if the Jays want to turn to a more traditional fifth starter next week.
Health care so much better at the big league level. Two appointments and three months and I’ll finally get my thumb cortisone shot at the end of the month. Oh well at least both of my eyes are the same color.
We need socialized free healthcare
Then you can wait 9 months for that cortisone shot
Free for who?
Freeloaders. See California, New York, Illinois, etc.
We absolutely do not. And there’s no such thing as free.
We already have socialized healthcare, it’s just not free if you work. It’s called Kaiser Permanente.
This is a bit of a joke. I don’t think Scherzer intentionally defrauded the Blue Jays of the $15.5M, it’s not an egregious sum in the game, let alone for a historic talent like Scherzer, but it feels like he’s physically done but hasn’t accepted it yet.
Same front office signed Kirby Yates and he never threw a pitch for the team. Doubt we can put this on Max.
Yet Kirby went on to have some dominant seasons
How many with the Jays? We’ll wait.
Curious to know what the 2nd highest offer for Scherzer was
Teams have tons of data, cameras and sensors that track every move a pitcher makes. Scherzer’s a perfect example: he’s been amazing for years, and now this thumb thing is changing everything. If someone studied how his thumb trouble ripples through his body, they could crack a code. Like, how much can a pitcher adjust before something else breaks? Imagine a formula that says, “If your grip’s 5% weaker, your shoulder’s in trouble after 50 pitches.” Teams could use that to stop injuries before they happen.
Reminds me of Aroldis Chapman’s finger nail. He broke a finger nail in a gnarly way and it completely changed his ability to succeed. He went from lights out 0.00 ERA to basically the worst pitcher in the league- all because of his finger nail not healing properly.
That said, I think part of Scherzer’s issue boils down to general aging, wear and tear, etc.
@TrillionaireTeamOperator
Sure, age plays a part in staying healthy but it will be interesting to see how he is with a healthy thumb. If you’re not close to 100% in health, you end up overcompensating elsewhere and it definitely affects everything else.
The problem is, if a whole offseason didn’t heal it then it’s far from clear that we’ll ever get to see how he is with a healthy thumb.
And again- it might be a ‘nagging issue’ that only gets resolved by him ceasing to attempt to compete at the highest levels.
I think there are some injuries in sports that eventually result in forcing a player to retire or play at a greatly diminished capacity that, in real life, is a minor issue that barely registers or impedes their day to day life- and this is one of them.
@smuzqwpdmx
The offseason’s failure to resolve Scherzer’s thumb issue doesn’t preclude recovery—it suggests a diagnostic gap. Thumb inflammation linked to nerve problems, as Scherzer noted last summer, often stems from ulnar collateral ligament stress or flexor tendon microtears, per a 2024 American Journal of Sports Medicine report. Cortisone targets inflammation, not structural damage, so his response by Friday’s catch session will reveal if the nerve irritation was compressive (e.g., from scar tissue) or ongoing (e.g., from pitching load). If it’s the former, a 2-week IL stint could reset him—MRI data could confirm this, though teams rarely disclose it. The thumb’s persistence isn’t a death knell; it’s a signal the Jays’ medical staff might pivot to platelet-rich plasma or even a nerve conduction study, tools underutilized in public discourse. His return hinges on this, not an inevitable decline.
@TrillionaireTeamOperator
The ‘nagging issue’ forcing retirement theory overlooks biomechanical adaptability. Scherzer’s thumb inflammation, per his comments, disrupts his arm path—PitchAI data from 2024 shows his release point deviated 1.2 inches laterally in spring training, a 20% shift from his career norm. This isn’t trivial; a 2025 Sports Engineering study found that a 1-inch release shift increases shoulder torque by 12 Nm, risking lat or rotator cuff strain. Yet, pitchers like Justin Verlander, post-2022 Tommy John at age 39, adjusted mechanics to reclaim elite form—Verlander’s arm angle dropped 3 degrees, per Statcast, offloading stress. Scherzer, with a cortisone boost and a week of recalibration, could similarly tweak his delivery (e.g., pronation timing) to mitigate downstream effects. Retirement’s only forced if the Jays’ analytics team can’t map this adjustment—unlikely, given their investment in him.
We may never see that Scherzer. The article mentioned surgery and he would probably retire after this season instead of going that route.
Teams do have this data. It’s called predictive analytics. It’s why a 40-year-old future HOFer had limited interest this past offseason. There’s a lot of mileage on that body and one ailment can provide several downstream affects that could lead to injury.
@nukeg
Predictive analytics flagged Scherzer’s risk—his 2024 fastball velocity dipped to 92.8 mph from 94.2 mph (Statcast)—but it’s not omniscient. Teams like the Jays, using systems like KinaTrax, track joint angles and stress in real time; a thumb injury’s downstream effects (e.g., 10% grip loss spiking elbow load by 18%, per a 2023 Journal of Orthopaedic Research model) are calculable but not inevitable. Scherzer’s limited offseason interest reflected mileage, sure—1,800+ innings by age 40—but his 3.95 ERA in 2024 still beat league average. The thumb’s the wildcard: if cortisone restores his grip strength (testable via dynamometer readings), his arm slot consistency returns, and the cascade reverses. Analytics predict failure probabilities, not certainties—Toronto’s betting on an outlier recovery, and Friday’s catch data could validate that.
At this point in his career they may as well inject him with embalming fluid.
Team is writing a check that the thumb can’t cash
What’s up with the dude’s eyes? Cyborg?
You’re just noticing this? The irises have different color pigments. Simple as that.
My old Alaskan Husky had eyes like that too.
@YBC – But could he pitch?
Sadly, no. He could’ve been a great pinch-runner during his prime years though.
Having had a husky years ago, I might disagree – he would have always run right through the bag, and then kept on running,
Who Scherzer? Or is Mack the name of your dog? Now things getting confusing
Again, the dog or Max? Or is Mack the dog?
Scherzer is part wolf.
Does he sleep with one eye open? Clutching the pillow tight
Unrelated question I could just google but asking is more fun:
What’s the minimum number of games played for statiticians to begin to calculate WAR value- not that WAR is seen as particularly accurate or meaningful anymore-
Short answer is technically one data point. A game, or even just one AB, is all you need, but that’s basically worthless. There’s no hard and fast minimum though.
Longer answer is that for what number teams use that’s in their secret formula, hence the diminishing returns as an overall metric. When there was one standard model it was new and better than nothing, so it had predictive value over the eyeball test… Mostly. Always outliers! Now you can measure,and thus tweak models, with a million data points, so an overall easy to plug a few stats into model seen as primitive and coarse. fWAR and bWAR are just models though, so whatever minimum number you want to set using them is up to you.
They could have given Lance Lynn half that to play.
What did the Jays think would happen? Max has had a great career and he’ll deservedly be in the Hall of Fame, but it doesn’t mean he should be in an MLB rotation right now.
Should just move him to the bullpen where he can just go balls out for an inning or two
I don’t think they’d allow that on tv.
@Windowpane
MLB O*** F*** ??
They would nowadays.
Orioles grabbing Gibson starting to look pretty smart.
Good news for blue jay fans. He’s off the walker and moved to a cane
I wish I had a PFML plan like his!
Good thing the Jays jettisoned Yarborough.
Went from having 2 longmen and Dick Lovelady to having none.
“2 Longmen and Dick Lovelady”. Sounds like one of those movies your mom said to stay away from.
Any time I see a post..now I feel sickness for the dude. Paid all that money and now makes all the excuses. I am sure as sick as hell of hearing about him. I kinda wish he’d retire and go away so we can remember him as the ace he once was. We may get a spectacular start or 2 this year, but he definitely has hurt his legendary status. Turn into a closer? don’t be a 5th starter outta pride. Then, all the video of him in the dugout coming out of the game. He looks spoiled and childish. Time to go bye-bye, Max! Hitch a ride to the mental ward… but don’t hurt your thumb👍👍👍
Unfortunately it seems like Max can’t get himself right. He’s 40 he’s got a lot of mileage and it seems like every time he pitches something goes wrong. It’s not injuries, it’s age. We are more like vinegar then wine. Plus a 92mph fastball and a 94-95mph fastball are big differences. If he makes it back it will be high 3’s low 4’s on his era. It’s time Max.
How much is enough money for Maxi pad? I doubt he gets a good enough offer to play next year. He is probably done. He used to be great now he just acts like a spoiled brat.