BUFFALO, N.Y. – Clad in Buffalo Bisons white, No. 59 on his back, Max Scherzer took a major step toward rejoining the Toronto Blue Jays rotation Friday night by throwing 4.1 innings of two-run ball against the Columbus Clippers.
Seeing his first game action since right lat soreness, triggered by his irksome right thumb issues, forced him from a March 27 outing against the Baltimore Orioles after just three innings and 45 pitches, Scherzer sat at 91.9 m.p.h. with his fastball and topped out at 94 while mixing in his slider, changeup, curveball and sinker.
The plan for him was to throw roughly 60-65 pitches and he was super-efficient early, working around a Brayan Rocchio double during a nine-pitch first, surrendering a solo shot to left-fielder C.J. Kayfus, Cleveland’s No. 4 prospect according to Baseball America, in a 13-pitch second, before going three-up, three-down during a nine-pitch third.
A 20-pitch fourth, which included a Kayfus sacrifice fly to deep centre, preceded a three-pitch strikeout of Kyle Datres to open the fifth that ended his outing. The 56 pitches marked his biggest workload since throwing 62 pitches in the Blue Jays’ penultimate spring training game March 22 versus Minnesota, when he threw four shutout innings with four strikeouts.
Scherzer threw 50 pitches over three innings in a simulated game at Dunedin, Fla., last Sunday, clearing a threshold he described as “the magic number for me” since that’s where his thumb issues typically flare up.
He threw a side on his normal day at the PDC afterwards, setting him up for his first true game action since that fateful March start against the Orioles.
As always, the test will come in how Scherzer recovers from the outing, something Blue Jays manager John Schneider acknowledged during his pre-game media session in Philadelphia.
“I couldn’t care less about his linescore, I want to see 60-65 pitches, I want to see that the fastball velo is good, and that he’s coming out of it healthy, really,” said Schneider. “And the main thing is to see he feels (Saturday) and hopefully just keep going in the right direction.”
Assuming all checks out, he “will probably need at least one more” rehab outing with Buffalo, added Schneider, with the plan being for Scherzer to rejoin the Blue Jays to throw a bullpen in between before his next start on normal rest Wednesday.
That outing would be at Worcester, making it possible Friday’s outing was his only one at Sahlen Field. It was treated like an event by fans and players alike, with several Clippers watching highlights from Scherzer’s 20-strikeout game against Detroit in 2016 on the video board after their batting practice had ended.
Bisons pitching coach Drew Hayes said the experience for his players was “similar to spring training, we’re always encouraging, especially our younger guys that are still learning their routines, to dial in and watch the older guys like that and see how they go about their business.”
“Until you’ve seen a guy like that actually work, work in the bullpen, the way they go about everything, you don’t really know,” he continued. “So I think it’s a really good opportunity for some of these younger guys to kind of dial in their routines and how they go about stuff from watching one of the best that’s done it.”
