Max Scherzer leaves Blue Jays debut after three innings with right lat soreness

TORONTO — Max Scherzer is, well, mad.

The 40-year-old surefire Hall of Famer hoped to be a contributor for the Blue Jays when he signed a one-year, US$15.5 million contract with Toronto on Feb. 4. But lingering discomfort in his thumb hampered his ability to get ready during spring training and led to a strained right lat in an abbreviated three-inning outing on Saturday in his regular-season debut for the Blue Jays.

"I'm frustrated. I want to pitch. I know I can pitch. I know I can throw the ball really well," he said after Toronto's 9-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles when he gave up two home runs. "Unfortunately, I've got an issue going on. It's coming from the thumb, and I've got to address this.

"I've got to zero out that thumb before I pitch again."

Scherzer had an 80-pitch limit heading into his Blue Jays debut but threw only 45, giving up the two runs on three hits, striking out one. He had warned manager John Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker of the compensatory injury in his lat after his pre-game warmups but he felt obligated to try to pitch to spare Toronto's bullpen a long day.

"I didn't throw a pitch where I had a zing, where anything went, where it had a bad pitch, where it felt a strain or anything," said Scherzer. "I really don't feel like it has strained anything, so I feel like the lat will be OK, but I've got to figure out this thumb."

Scherzer — known as "Mad Max" because of his intensity on and off the field — is an eight-time all-star and has won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in his league three times. He has a 216-112 record over his 17-year career with a 3.16 earned-run average and 3,408 strikeouts.

He was brought to Toronto to add depth to the starting rotation and serve as a role model to the team's other pitchers. Now it's unlikely he'll make his next scheduled start.

"We were checking in with him, kind of inning by inning," said Schneider. "We want to be smart, first outing of the year.

"Obviously, we need him. We want him. It was just a matter of, could you push through it, or could you not? We just decided to take the cautious route after the third."

Scherzer said he doesn't know what his recovery will look like but that he would work with doctors to get his thumb right again.

"I've been dealing with this for so long that I can't pitch through this injury," said Scherzer. "There's so many other injuries you can pitch through. You can pitch through a lot, actually, but this thumb is absolutely critical to your arm health, and so I got to get this 100 per cent before I pitch again."

Relievers Richard Lovelady (0-1), Jacob Barnes, Chad Green, Yimi Garcia and Jeff Hoffman finished out the game for Toronto (1-2). Lovelady, Barnes and Green gave up a combined seven runs.