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Vintage Max Scherzer proving his case as likely post-season starter
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Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Thomas Hall
Aug 20, 2025, 12:30 EDTUpdated: Aug 20, 2025, 12:24 EDT
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This is exactly why the Toronto Blue Jays signed Max Scherzer to a one-year, $15.5-million contract over the off-season.
The front office had the post-season in mind when they acquired the future Hall-of-Fame starter in free agency, believing he was still capable of performing at the highest level in October. Three months ago, that was likely the furthest thing from everyone’s minds. But now, less than a month after his 41st birthday, the veteran right-hander is solidifying his case as a playoff starter.
Scherzer submitted another impressive performance during Tuesday’s 7-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing just one run on four hits across six innings of work, earning a fifth consecutive quality start — reaching that feat in six of his previous seven outings. He also threw a season-high 104 pitches on the night, crossing the 100-pitch threshold for the first time since Aug. 26, 2023.
This is the best that the three-time Cy Young winner has looked in quite some time, and it certainly helps that he’s become a critical piece on one of the best teams in baseball, as the Blue Jays enter Wednesday’s finale at PNC Park just a half-game behind the Detroit Tigers for top spot in the AL.
“I just love it. You play for this. This is what you live for, to be in this position and be competing for a playoff spot,” Scherzer told reporters post-game Tuesday, including MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson. “This team, we’ve done such a great job of being consistent in all facets of the game from starting pitching to hitting, relief pitching and defence. You name it, we’ve all contributed. It’s not just one guy. It’s a total team effort. That’s when it’s fun. That’s when it’s the best.”
You can feel Scherzer’s competitive energy exploding off the page in his comments. He knows how good he’s pitching right now, and rightly so. The eight-time All-Star has been his vintage self of late, sporting a 2.25 ERA with 28 strikeouts and only seven walks, spanning 32 innings over his last five starts.
That’s not the production you’d associate with a back-of-the-rotation starter. Those are front-line starter results. Scherzer is building towards October. After missing most of the first half due to a right thumb injury, which has plagued him on and off since ’23, he’s likely Toronto’s freshest starter at this point of the calendar, too.
Part of this is also pretty surreal. Max Scherzer, one of the greatest pitchers of this generation, is turning back the clock in a Blue Jays uniform. Just imagine travelling back in time 10 years and telling your younger self that Scherzer would be dominating for this team in 2025.
One of the most admiring things about Scherzer is that he’ll tell you like it is. He isn’t going to sugarcoat what he thinks. So, on a night when he held Pittsburgh’s struggling offence to one run over six, he still wasn’t entirely satisfied with his outing. Issuing three walks, which elevated his pitch count early, is one of the topics he pointed to.
When you’re as accomplished as he is, though, striving for perfection comes with the territory, but it isn’t always needed. It wasn’t a perfect outing against the Pirates. However, after unleashing his hardest pitch (95.1 m.p.h.) of the game in the sixth inning, it was further proof that he has plenty left in the tank.
“I don’t think I was quite as sharp as I’ve been,” Scherzer said, as relayed by Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling. “But I also made pitches when I needed to. I didn’t allow a big inning to happen. When things did get sideways, I kept it to one. And got out of other innings as well and kept the rhythm of the game and the offence in the game.”
For a Blue Jays rotation that’s set to welcome Shane Bieber to the mix on Friday in Miami, the makings of a potential post-season staff are starting to come into focus — with Scherzer as one of the leading bright spots.

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