The Toronto Blue Jays are heading into 2026 with veteran star pitcher Max Scherzer back in the rotation. Scherzer helped the club reach the World Series in 2025. The veteran pitcher is making a bold declaration about being available to pitch on Opening Day.
“Max Scherzer says he plans to be ready for opening day. Plans to pitch multiple innings Saturday vs. Phillies. Says he feels great and is completely over last year’s thumb issues,” SportsNet's Ben Nicholson-Smith posted to X, formerly Twitter.
Scherzer recently decided to return for another season with the Blue Jays, at 41 years old. The veteran started 17 regular season games in 2025 for Toronto, despite being bothered by a thumb injury.
The Blue Jays ended up losing the World Series this past season in seven games to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Max Scherzer is ready to go for the Blue Jays
Scherzer's Toronto teammates and coaches were happy to see him re-join the team. The hurler met up with his teammates again recently in spring training.
“Good catching up with gramps,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, per MLB.com. “Nice to have him back.”
Schneider doesn't want to push his veteran star too hard in spring training.
“He threw today, he’ll throw again on Wednesday, and then we’ll see where we’re at,” Schneider said on Monday. “He’s been throwing to hitters down in Jupiter, [Fla.,] so we’ll see how his next bullpen goes and get him into some games.”
The Blue Jays veteran finished his 2025 regular season with a 5.19 ERA. He is as experienced as any pitcher in Major League Baseball heading into 2026. Scherzer has 221 career regular season victories.
Before coming to Toronto, Scherzer pitched with several other teams including the Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers. He was part of two World Series championship teams in Texas and Washington.
The Blue Jays play a spring training game on Thursday against the Atlanta Braves.
