Scherzer makes 2nd rehab start, looks toward improved second half
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SAN FRANCISCO -- The great Max Scherzer has spent more time rehabbing than pitching in the big leagues this season for the Blue Jays, but once more, the future Hall of Famer is climbing his way back.
Wednesday night with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, Scherzer made his second rehab start of this current build-up from a back injury, which follows battles earlier this year with right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation.
Here’s everything you need to know:
How did Scherzer perform?
Scherzer gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits -- including a three-run homer in the first -- over four innings against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, walking none and striking out five on 72 pitches (49 strikes). His fastball sat between 92 mph and 94 mph, topping out at 94.4 mph.
Across two outings during his current rehab stint -- the other came with High-A Vancouver last week -- Scherzer has given up seven runs (six earned) over seven innings (7.71 ERA).
What’s next?
John Schneider joked that he told Scherzer his pitch count would be “between 50 and 100 today, just do whatever you want.” Scherzer tends to drive these things, but the jokes weren’t done.
“He may throw a no-hitter after Verlander was selected to the All-Star Game,” Schneider said. “He may have a bit of extra rage going in Buffalo.”
Record-chasing aside, the Blue Jays are hoping that Scherzer will need just one more rehab appearance following this one, which would likely fall during the All-Star break. From there, Scherzer could rejoin the team coming out of the break and take another crack at this, but the Blue Jays will need to see much more than the 10.23 ERA he’s posted over 22 innings this season.
What are they saying?
In a perfect world, Scherzer nails his next rehab start, returns to the rotation and allows Spencer Miles to bounce back into a multi-inning relief role. There haven’t been many “perfect world” outcomes for the Blue Jays this season, though, so we’ll have to wait and see.
“Spencer is throwing the ball really well,” Schneider said. “He started and did well [on Tuesday] and limited hard contact, and his stuff was there. Max needs to be built up and needs to be able to execute pretty consistently. Then, yeah, you’d have a pretty good weapon in Spencer in the bullpen.”
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What else?
If and when Scherzer returns to the Blue Jays’ rotation, he’s chasing down more history. Prior to hitting the IL again, Scherzer became just the 11th pitcher in MLB history to strike out 3,500 batters, and depending on how much longer he pitches, he may be able to chase down a few pitchers ahead of him.
Most strikeouts all-time:
- Nolan Ryan: 5,714
- Randy Johnson: 4,875
- Roger Clemens: 4,672
- Steve Carlton: 4,136
- Bert Blyleven: 3,701
- Tom Seaver: 3,640
- Don Sutton: 3,574
- Justin Verlander: 3,554
- Gaylord Perry: 3,534
- Walter Johnson: 3,515
- Max Scherzer: 3,503
One note on the above list: Walter Johnson’s career strikeout total is 3,515, according to Elias Sports Bureau, which is the official statistician of Major League Baseball. That is the number that will be used as a threshold for Scherzer soon cracking the Top 10 in career strikeouts.