Max Scherzer may have already decided whether he’ll return for a 20th major league season in 2027, and the future Hall-of-Fame pitcher said he intends to announce those plans in the coming days.

While speaking to reporters following the first half of Wednesday’s doubleheader, Scherzer — who held the Baltimore Orioles to four runs (all earned) on as many hits and a trio of walks, striking out seven over five innings on 93 pitches — revealed he was previously scheduled to start Sunday’s season finale at Rogers Centre against the Cincinnati Reds before Tuesday’s postponement.

But the 42-year-old hurler still wants to start that game, and if he does, it’d mean returning on short rest for his 18th and final start of 2026. As for whether it could also serve as a potential send-off, likely in front of yet another sold-out crowd, he wasn’t ready to make such a declaration.

Details on that front will soon follow, though, as MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson relayed.

Another potential factor behind Scherzer’s motivation to start Sunday is that Justin Verlander, who’ll make his final career start on Saturday before announcing his retirement after this season, currently sits four strikeouts ahead for the eighth spot on the all-time list.

The long-standing rivalry between those two is one of baseball’s worst-kept secrets, so you can bet that Mad Max will be paying close attention to Verlander’s swan song in Detroit. If closing that gap remains in reach, there likely won’t be any question about who’ll toe the rubber for Toronto in Game 162.

After Wednesday’s outing, the 500th of his Hall-of-Fame-bound career, Scherzer’s ERA climbed to 6.14 on the season through 77.2 innings. He also owns a 5.43 FIP with 61 strikeouts and 34 walks entering what could be the final time he takes the field before walking off into the sunset.

If Scherzer retires after next season, however, he’d fittingly headline a Hall of Fame class by himself rather than sharing that honour with Verlander five years from now.

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