TORONTO – Max Scherzer is always thinking ahead so, knowing that he came out of his last start with right forearm tendinitis, he approaches after Saturday’s batting practice, points to a large bruise covering the area and proclaims, “that’s nothing.”
“This is a cupping situation — a vein burst and boom,” the Toronto Blue Jays righty, slated to start Sunday’s series finale versus the Minnesota Twins, explained. “I'm not sore there. That is not (connected to) the (tendinitis) issue.”
The bruise on the underside of his forearm is sizable enough that Scherzer worried that a broadcast camera could pick it up and lead to speculation that the tendinitis had caused it, and that he was putting himself at risk by pitching.
In fact, the opposite is true, as Tuesday, after he lasted only two innings in Monday night’s 14-2 thumping from the Los Angeles Dodgers, he underwent an MRI which "ruled out all the bad" possibilities, Scherzer said.
“There's nothing wrong with the ligament. Structurally good. The MRI gave a lot of good news,” he continued. “When I'm pitching against the Dodgers, I didn't know exactly what I had, so I had to be very careful. … The MRI gave me a lot of information saying, hey, no, you’re good, this is tendinitis, it's playing like that, so I have a little bit more leash to be able to go after this (Sunday).”
To that end, Scherzer said he’s feeling much better ahead of Sunday’s outing than he did before pitching against the Dodgers, throwing a bullpen as normal Friday in preparation. His goal in throwing only two innings Monday was to give the Blue Jays what he could while repositioning himself for more on Sunday.
Once the MRI confirmed there “wasn't an imminent danger, that allows you to be a little bit more aggressive,” said Scherzer.
“I’m just trying to navigate and stay off the IL,” he added. “I could have gone deeper in that Dodgers start. I just didn't know what I had. Now I know what I have, it allows me to give a little bit more without feeling like I'm really risking my arm.”
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