TORONTO — The pain of a cortisone injection to his ailing thumb isn't what has Max Scherzer hurting.
"It doesn't feel good," he said of the injection, "but you'll take any pain to get out there. The pain's not the problem. The pain is not being able to pitch and be out there. That's what stinks … Not playing is the worst part."
The 40-year-old pitcher lasted three innings in his Toronto Blue Jay debut Saturday, then shut it down because of soreness in his right lat muscle. The lat pain comes from his body compensating from the thumb discomfort from his grip.
"You can't override and pitch through that pain," he explained. "Because once that's compromised, it compromises the rest of your arm."
Past ailments in his shoulder and back have stemmed from the thumb.
As for his return, Scherzer said he is day to day.
"You've got to let the cortisone shot work. Typically I really respond well to cortisone," he said. "I've had plenty of these shots over my career."
He hopes to play catch Friday to see how it feels. The good news is the lat pain has gone.
"When he starts throwing, we'll kind of play it by ear," said Jays manager John Schneider. "Hopefully it's not too long but we don't really have a set date, a target date or a timeline. We'll just see how he feels in the next couple days."
Facing Baltimore, Scherzer allowed two runs off solo homers and three hits in a 45-pitch outing that prompted a visit to a hand specialist in Pennsylvania.
Scherzer said the specialist was "pleasantly surprised" by what he found, suggesting the cortisone injection to calm the inflammation.
"That should be the solution to get the thumb back to 100 percent and then try to build back off of that," said Scherzer.
The three-time Cy Young Award-winner had "a couple" of cortisone injections last year. But the second one, in October, was when he wasn't pitching.
"I don't know exactly how this is going to play out." he said. "And so I've just go to listen to what my thumb says, trust the training staff here, come up with a good plan of how to manage this, treat this at the some time and find a way to build back up."
The visit to the specialist was comforting in that it provided some more clarity, he added. Scherzer also said he is "not close" to a surgery option.
'We're just not at that point," he said.
Scherzer, who signed a one-year US$15-million contract with the Jays, is an eight-time all-star and two-time World Series champion.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
