The Toronto Blue Jays are 13-13 on the season, which puts them third in the American League East.
The pitching staff in Toronto has been a bright spot on the team.
Chris Bassitt is a legitimate American League Cy Young contender to begin the year. Kevin Gausman, Bowden Francis and Jose Berrios are all having respectable seasons, as well. Their fifth starting spot has been the only negative of the rotation.
The reason the fifth starter has been such an inconsistent part of the team is because they lost their free agent signing, Max Scherzer, to a thumb injury in his first start as a member of the Blue Jays.
Scherzer has been out for over a month now, but Toronto recently gave an updated plan for his return. That return to action plan continued on Friday.
Per Larry Fleisher of the Associated Press, the 40-year-old threw 27 pitches off the mound on Friday. The bullpen included a mix of all of his pitches, as well.
“It wasn’t max effort by any means, but he threw all of his pitches. He spun a few breaking balls in there and I think just a good step in the right direction,” Manager John Schneider said, per Fleisher.
The fact that Scherzer is throwing all of his pitches in his side sessions already is a great sign. Even though he was not throwing with max intensity, being able to spin a few breaking balls and throw his changeup — all pitches in which the thumb is important — is a step forward.
It has not been revealed when he will get off the mound next, but he does need to extend his bullpen sessions a little bit. The right-hander needs to be able to throw at 100% effort, and do that for around 60-75 pitches before he is able to begin a rehab assignment.
Getting the former Cy Young back would be huge for the Blue Jays. He is not going to be the same pitcher that he was in his prime, but Scherzer is still capable of shutting teams down.
When the time comes, Mad Max is going to slide right back into the rotation. However, with his injury history, it would make sense for Toronto to ease him back into game action.
Scherzer is getting closer to a return, but he is still a ways away from taking the mound in the big leagues. Still, the bullpen on Friday is a great step forward.
