Blue Jays Appear to Catch a Break on Injury Front with Veteran Pitcher
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Amidst a five-game losing skid and with injuries continuing to pile up, it looks as though the stumbling Toronto Blue Jays may have finally caught a bit of a break.
As part of Monday night's 14-2 blowout home loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game of the World Series rematch between the teams, Max Scherzer was pulled from his start after just two innings. Needless to say, his early exit prompted plenty of concern given that the Blue Jays' pitching staff has already been ravaged by injuries to starters Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, Cody Ponce, José Berríos, Bowden Francis and Ricky Tiedemann.
Schneider is "Fairly Confident" That Scherzer Will Make Next Start
News: Max Scherzer is dealing with right forearm tendinitis.
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) April 7, 2026
The #BlueJays knew this going in and it didn’t get any worse. John Schneider is “fairly confident” he’ll make his next start.
Luckily, it doesn't appear that Scherzer is set to join Toronto's ranks of the wounded - at least not yet.
Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reported that the 41-year-old Scherzer was lifted early as a pre-arranged measure to guard against some ongoing right forearm tendinitis, noting that it is unlikely to prevent him from making his next start.
Scherzer went into further detail regarding the nagging injury and the team's approach to it in speaking to the media after Monday's game.
"I've been dealing with this little issue for a couple of weeks, but it's never been presenting when I've been throwing the ball; it's actually been hurting more when I'm at home," Scherzer said. "I didn't want to go to the IL, I just don't think this is an IL issue where I need to miss two starts. I just needed to guard it today, so we came up with a plan that the most I would do was three innings, 50 pitches."
Scherzer's departure may have hindered the Blue Jays on Monday night, as the Dodgers proceeded to torch the home side's bullpen for 12 runs and 15 hits over seven innings. However, the move was made with the blessing of manager John Schneider and in the long-term interest of ensuring that the three-time Cy Young winner is ready for his next start and hopefully many more thereafter.
If all was operating according to plan for Toronto, the club would likely not have to rely on a healthy Scherzer as a regular part of the five-man rotation. Yesavage, Bieber, Ponce and perhaps even Berríos would theoretically rank higher on the starting pitcher depth chart, with Scherzer serving more as injury insurance. That injury insurance has been needed right from the outset, as the future Hall of Famer currently stands as one of the few healthy arms alongside Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease and Eric Lauer.
While the update on Scherzer's health following Monday's short outing is ultimately good news, having an aging pitcher manage forearm tendinitis while starting every five days is probably not sustainable. It is critical for the Blue Jays to begin getting some of their sidelined starters back on the mound (hopefully starting with Yesavage) in order to fully weaponize their deep, talented rotation.
Ben Fisher is a long-time sportswriter and baseball lover, dating back to 2008, when he was a member of the media relations team for the Toronto Blue Jays. He has covered a wide range of sports for a seemingly endless array of publications, including The Canadian Press, Fansided and The Hockey Writers. When he isn't writing about sports, he can be found coaching his equally baseball-obsessed sons' Little League teams.