Toronto Blue Jays' Future Hall of Famer Dealing with Continued Thumb Injury

We thought that Max Scherzer was out of the woods with his thumb injury, but evidently, it's still giving him problems.

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer (31) throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies in the first inning during spring training at TD Ballpark on March 2. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Even despite a clean MRI last week, Toronto Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer is still having issues with the thumb on his right hand.

Per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com:

Max Scherzer tells us that his thumb is giving him problems again after hitting the 50-pitch mark.

Scherzer spoke about how critical the thumb is to a pitcher's arm health, citing 2023 and 2024 as examples where a similar issue led to other injuries elsewhere. #BlueJays

Max Scherzer on what he's dealing with:

“My thumb hurts. It hurts to grip the ball. The critical thing I’ve learned over the years here is that your thumb is absolutely critical to your arm health. Unfortunately, this is what I’ve been dealing with since 2023.”

Max Scherzer on what he's dealing with:

“My thumb hurts. It hurts to grip the ball. The critical thing I’ve learned over the years here is that your thumb is absolutely critical to your arm health. Unfortunately, this is what I’ve been dealing with since 2023.” #BlueJays

— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) March 17, 2025

The 40-year-old Scherzer is a 17-year veteran of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. He helped the Nationals win the World Series in 2019 and was part of the Rangers team that captured the title in 2023.

Lifetime, he's 216-112 with a 3.16 ERA. He battled injury in 2024, making just nine starts, so the Blue Jays will hope he's able to overcome this and be healthier in 2025. He signed a one-year deal this offseason.

Scherzer is an eight-time All-Star and a three-time Cy Young winner. He's struck out 3,407 batters in his career, which is second among current pitchers (Justin Verlander). Destined for the Hall of Fame, the Blue Jays could be the final stop of his career, although Scherzer hasn't said this is his final year.

If he's healthy, he'll join Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Bowden Francis in the Jays rotation.

Toronto opens the season on March 27 at home against the Baltimore Orioles.

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