Blue Jays' Max Scherzer says he's ready for majors, not 'pointless' trade talk

BOSTON — Friday afternoon at Fenway Park, Max Scherzer walked in from right field and found some shade in the visiting dugout. 

He had just completed a pre-game bullpen session, building on a recent triple-A rehab start in which he struck out seven over five scoreless innings. When two reporters asked for a few minutes of his time, he wasn’t surprised. Still wearing his full road-grey uniform, he sat down and answered questions about how he feels physically and how he approaches the upcoming trade deadline.

“I’m in a good spot throwing the ball,” he told Sportsnet and The Athletic. “The ball’s coming out of my hand the way it needs to. So I’m looking to pitch here, in the big leagues.”


The 41-year-old last pitched in the majors on June 10, but his thumb responded well to cortisone injections and he now feels much improved physically and ready to make his next appearance at the MLB level.

“I can feel it coming out of my hand, and that feels right,” he said. “I know I can pitch. I know I can still go out there and compete.”

Pitching for the Buffalo Bisons Wednesday, Scherzer threw 56 pitches, which sets him up for approximately 70 next time with a standard progression. While nothing has been finalized, the Blue Jays are encouraged with Scherzer’s progression and haven’t ruled out using him in their upcoming series against the right-hander’s longtime team, the Washington Nationals. 

“We could,” said manager John Schneider. “Not trying to force Max back before he's ready, but he felt good after the (triple-A) start. Hopefully he feels good tomorrow. We’ll see.”

Having pitched just 22 big-league innings this season, Scherzer's highly motivated to make his way back and contribute. At the same time, he doesn’t dwell on the time missed. He says he’s simply focused on doing what he can to return.

“It's frustrating for sure,” he said. “But I've been so frustrated that it's pointless to keep harping on it, you know? For me, it's just stay positive, get back out there, have another shot, go out there and compete.”

Along with that, there’s a bigger picture question about Scherzer’s future. The Blue Jays arrived at Fenway Park nine games under .500 amidst plenty of discussion about how they’ll approach the upcoming trade deadline. Scherzer has a no-trade clause, allowing him to control his own destiny, but it’s possible he could draw interest and create an interesting decision for the front office.

As this information was presented to Scherzer he started smiling and shaking his head. 

“I’m just not going to answer your question,” he said. “Our job is to come here, show up and win the ballgame. We need to go 1-0 today. If the front office makes a decision on our season and there's a conversation we have then I'll gladly answer those questions. However I need to answer those questions, I'll answer at that time. But until that happens, our job is to be here living day by day, trying to win every single ball game.”

The way Scherzer sees it, there’s always something distracting big-leaguers from the moment they arrive at the MLB level to the moment they leave it. As a rookie, it’s time to prove yourself. Midway through your career, there are chances to earn a big contract. At every point along the way, there’s pressure to win.

Pushing those distractions to the side is necessary every step of the way, he said. That applied last year, when the Blue Jays reached the World Series. And it applies here, too.

“Right now it’s no different,” Scherzer said. “You don't just get to run between the lines and go ‘oh, we're just playing baseball.’ You have to go out there and you have to win. If you don't win at this level, you're gone. Hey, we sign up for that and we love it. We don't want it any other way. I'm not complaining about that one bit, but that's just the reality. We live it.


“And so, that's our challenge. Having to address other external factors, it's pointless.”