Max Scherzer leaves Blue Jays debut after three innings with right lat soreness
Max Scherzer’s Toronto Blue Jays debut came to an end sooner than anyone would have liked.
Max Scherzer‘s Toronto Blue Jays debut came to an end sooner than anyone would have liked.
Scherzer was lifted after the third inning of Saturday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles. He came off the field following the top of the third and was visibly frustrated speaking to Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker.
Toronto announced that Scherzer was removed with right lat soreness.
Left-handed reliever Richard Lovelady began warming in the bullpen and entered to pitch the fourth inning.
Scherzer allowed two home runs in the first, but settled in to follow with two scoreless frames. He threw just 45 pitches and collected one strikeout.
He averaged 91.9 m.p.h with his fastball — right in line with his 2024 averages — while mixing five pitches against Baltimore.
The 40-year-old had been dealing with an ongoing thumb issue in spring training, but returned to pitch towards the end of Toronto’s Grapefruit League schedule, allowing him to break camp with the team.
According to Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae, Scherzer said earlier this week that the thumb issues “affects your whole arm, not just your forearm, but all the way to your triceps, into your shoulder and into your lat, too.”
Before the game, MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson reported that the plan was for Scherzer to throw around 80 pitches.
The three-time Cy Young winner is coming off an injury-filled 2024 with the Texas Rangers, in which he was limited to just nine starts.
