If you’ve watched Mad Max Scherzer on the mound for any length of his surefire Hall of Fame career, you know he didn’t come to Toronto on a sight-seeing tour to play out his age 40-41 season.
You don’t have to delve too deeply into the newest Blue Jay starter’s resume to see what he brings to a team, a clubhouse and a fan base, either,
As a three-time Cy Young Award winner and an eight-time all star, Scherzer undisputedly is one of the elite big league pitchers of the past decade-plus. The back of his baseball card displays it and a long list of vanquished hitters confirm it.
But it is the competitor in the accomplished veteran that should most excite his latest set of teammates, front office and win-starved fan base.
“The accolades, we could talk about for a long time,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said on a Friday afternoon video call welcoming Scherzer to the team. “There aren’t many people in the game that have more than Max does. (But) it’s not about those accomplishments. When someone has an elite level of competitiveness, that raises the bar for others.
“It’s something in professional sports that’s hard to quantify, but you can feel it. He’s going to raise the bar for all of us here.”
Scherzer is on board with that as well. In fact, he has made a career of transporting that mindset and work ethic to whatever clubhouse he lands.
While he acknowledged on Friday that one of the priorities for what could likely be his final free-agent deal — the one-year, $15.5-million pact he signed with the Jays — was to be in the east to be close to his family in Florida, there’s more.
Sure, he feels the aches and pains associated with his age and the back woes that sidelined him for much of last season, but the renowned Scherzer fire still burns hot.
“I still feel I can pitch at a high level, compete at a high level and be a part of a championship-calibre team,” Scherzer said with the steely stare that has intimidated batters. “I love to win. Winning cures everything. All you need to do is wake up in the morning and have that drive to win and the rest kind of takes care of itself.
“I love being able to go out there and pitch. That’s what makes it fun.”
This will be MLB organization number seven — and possibly last — for Scherzer, who broke into the bigs with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008. Most recently, he was with the Texas Rangers before settling on that one-year deal the Jays made official this week.
Along the way, Scherzer has pitched 2,878 innings and brings a wealth of experience and wily strategy to a veteran pitching staff that needed some depth. He’s also confident that he can remain healthy — a process abetted by the Jays medical staff and pitching coach Pete Walker, who have adroitly kept their starters throwing healthily in recent seasons.
“I’ve had a very good off-season so far, been able to do everything normal,” Scherzer said. “I’m looking forward to coming into spring training full tilt, happy to be in my normal routine and hope to see the benefits of that.”
For most starters, sustained success in a season is all about rhythm — a proper buildup, regular work and staying in the rotation. In 2024, that didn’t happen for Scherzer, an outlier for the keen competitor, who managed just 43 innings and change for the Rangers.
“You get into mid-season form when you’re consistent, you’re going out there making starts and starting and start out, you’re not getting hurt,” Scherzer said. “Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for me last year.
“I feel if I can stay healthy … I can pitch at a very high level here. I probably (have) all the pitches to be able to navigate a lineup. If I can get myself in that position where my arm’s resilient, my arm’s bouncing back well, I feel I can go out there and navigate some lineups.”
A two-time World Series champion — first with the Washington Nationals in 2019 and then with the Rangers in 2023 — Scherzer certainly figures to be a solid fit with fellow seasoned performers, Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman and Jose Berrios.
In that sense, he provides some potentially ace-like starting depth, a welcome advancement from the thin ice manager John Schneider had to navigate the previous two seasons with a precarious lack of it.
But the biggest music to the ears of Schneider, Atkins and a fan base still feeling jilted following a last-place season in 2024 is what Scherzer feels the Jays offer on the field.
“I’m not just playing to play,” Scherzer said. “I want to play to win. I really feel like the Toronto Blue Jays offer that.
“I felt comfortable with what Toronto was offering, what they were doing and what their outlook was for 2025 and that they’re in an all-in position.”