TORONTO — Max Scherzer walked into manager John Schneider’s office at Wrigley Field in June. The meetings between the 42-year-old pitcher and his 46-year-old manager are a near-daily occurrence. They aren’t scheduled, but they might as well be. For Schneider, this one stuck out.
Scherzer had made six starts to that point, with a 10.23 ERA. He’d just given up five runs to the Philadelphia Phillies and was placed on the injured list for the second time, with back spasms. Scherzer was frustrated, but he wasn’t quitting.
“He actually came in and was kind of venting to me a little bit,” Schneider recalled. “He said, ‘I still want this. I’m still in the fight.’”
On Sunday, in front of 42,039 buzzing fans, Scherzer showed why. In a sweep-sealing, 7-0 win over the Seattle Mariners, the veteran delivered seven shutout innings, striking out 10. It was his best start as a Toronto Blue Jay, his best in three years. It was the sort of start he knew was still in his well-worn arm, even if others doubted it, and a performance that kept Toronto’s playoff hopes more than just a wild wish.
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“It was kind of like popping in a time machine a little bit,” Schneider said. “You don’t really see that from a 42-year-old.”
All year, through IL stints and sideways starts, Scherzer remained adamant in his ability. He’s battled an ailing back, thumb, ankle and probably other physical setbacks that were never made public. But, Scherzer said, when he’s healthy, he can still pitch. Like an old car that still drives smoothly even if it needs regular repairs, Scherzer proved it Sunday.
He started the contest with three consecutive strikeouts before Alejandro Kirk gave the Jays a lead with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. Scherzer kept retiring Mariners all afternoon. After a third-inning slider struck out Randy Arozarena, Scherzer spun out of his delivery, slapped his glove and stormed off the mound as if he had places to be.
“The old man,” Ernie Clement yelled from the dugout after one of Scherzer’s 10 strikeouts.
After the sixth inning, Scherzer stormed into the dugout, blowing by his manager and pitching coach and rushing into the tunnel. They didn’t plan on removing him anyway.
“You kind of just watch what he’s doing,” Schneider said. “Wasn’t really much conversation.”
Scherzer, hopping over the foul line to retake the mound in the seventh, drew a sloppy swing from Cal Raleigh to earn his 10th and final strikeout. It pushed him past Gaylord Perry for the ninth most in baseball history. The crowd erupted, and Scherzer stepped back off the mound.
That moment, with Scherzer’s stiff fingers saluting around the stadium, captured how improbable and impressive his outing was. He has thrown more innings than all but one active player, Justin Verlander. He is the only player still active from the 2006 MLB Draft. He has more career IL stints than Brett Bateman has career RBIs. Yet Scherzer can still dominate.
“I can’t imagine myself playing at that age,” Kirk, 27, said through team interpreter Hector Lebron. “I won’t be playing at 42, definitely.”
Asked after the game whether the start felt validating, Scherzer, in his gruff manner, rejected the premise. “Because I knew,” he said. Now the rest of the baseball world knows, too. Quietly, Sunday’s outing built on a stretch of seven straight starts without a pause for Scherzer. He’s held the opposition to two or fewer runs in six of them. Sunday was the peak, but he’s been giving the Jays a chance to win since late July. Still, no outing is guaranteed in a player’s 19th season. Every elite start is even more special, especially when it comes for a team on the cusp of contention.
Sunday’s game had real stakes: The Jays were playing to stay close behind the Cleveland Guardians in the wild-card race and to secure a potential tiebreaker over Seattle. The Jays didn’t have their ace on the mound because Dylan Cease pitched Friday. They didn’t have their big deadline acquisition going, either, because José Soriano threw Saturday. It was Scherzer’s turn.
Five innings with two runs against would’ve been perfectly acceptable. Instead, Scherzer delivered the start he knew he had in him. It proved he’s still in the fight, and it kept the Jays in it, too.
“We need these wins right now,” Scherzer said. “To go out and deliver feels great.”
