Pinch yourself, Max Scherzer is a Toronto Blue Jays.
Scherzer started for the Blue Jays in Tuesday’s Spring Training game, his first-ever appearance in a Blue Jays uniform. Overall, he finished with a line of 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. Below are all four of his strikeouts.
Sure, he may have given up an earned run, but Scherzer also finished with an incredible eight whiffs on 16 total swings for a 50 whiff %. Three of those whiffs came on the fastball, two came on the slider, another two came on the changeup, and one came on his curveball.
As for his fastball, it averaged 92.6 mph but touched as high as 94.2 mph. The slider sat in the low 80s and so did the changeup. He also featured a cutter that sat 85 mph, but he threw just three of them, mainly relying on his four-seam fastball (17 pitches of his 34 pitches).
The Blue Jays signed Scherzer to a one-year, $15.5 million deal with a full no-trade clause. Without question, Scherzer is a first-ballot Hall of Famer as he has two World Series, three Cy Youngs, and eight All-Star appearances to his credit.
Scherzer spent the majority of the 2024 season injured with the Texas Rangers, pitching in just nine games where he had a 3.95 ERA and a 4.18 FIP in 43.1 innings pitched. The season before that, he had a 3.77 ERA and a 4.32 FIP in 152.2 innings pitched with the New York Mets and Rangers, winning the World Series with the latter.
The last time he pitched to his usual standard was in 2022 with the Mets, where he had a 2.29 ERA and a 2.62 FIP in 145.1 innings pitched, with a 30.6 K% and a 4.2 BB%. For his lengthy career, Scherzer has a 3.16 ERA and a 3.18 FIP in 2,878 innings pitched, with a 29.3 K% and a 6.5 BB%.
Hopefully, he can find some success with the Blue Jays and help the team make the postseason for the first time since 2023.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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