The Blue Jays are on the fringes of the American League playoff race, but Max Scherzer is not helping matters much right now.
The Toronto Blue Jays enter play on Thursday at 62-66 and in fourth place in the American League East. However, despite the disappointing record, the Jays are just 1.0 game back of the Minnesota Twins in the battle for the American League's third wild card spot.
Given all the injuries, all the underperformance, and the fact that the Jays traded both Jeff Hoffman, Daulton Varsho and Kevin Gausman at the trade deadline, it's a rather amazing accomplishment to even be in the mix at all right now.
In the absence of those traded away, and the injured Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the Jays have gotten valuable contributions from the likes of Dylan Cease, who is in the mix for the American League Cy Young Award, Kazuma Okamoto and Spencer Miles.
However, one guy who continues to struggle is veteran right-hander Max Scherzer, who gave up seven earned runs on five hits and three walks over four innings in Wednesday's 7-6 loss against the Tampa Bay Rays.
With the loss, the 42-year-old is now 1-6 with an unsightly 7.40 ERA. He's only made 11 starts because of multiple injuries.
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Jonathan Dyer-Imagn ImagesAs noted by StatsCentre, Scherzer's 7.40 ERA is eighth-worst ERA by a Jays pitcher in his first 11 starts of a season, better than only Roy Halladay (10.60, 2000), Jack Morris (9.91, 1993), Josh Towers (8.76, 2006), Dave Lemanczyk (8.52, 1978), Marty Janzen (8.26, 1996), Danny Darwin (7.44, 1995) and Ted Lilly (7.41, 1995).
It's amazing to see Halladay and Morris on that list considering both are Hall of Famers.
A 19-year veteran of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Blue Jays, Scherzer is one of the best pitchers in baseball history. With 222 wins, he's also a three-time Cy Young winner, a two-time World Series champion and an eight-time All-Star.
He'll be a first-ballot Hall of Famer when the time comes, and it's unclear what he'll do at the end of the season as far as playing again in 2027 or retiring. He's an asset in the clubhouse and is known as a great leader, but right now, the performance doesn't match the reputation.
Had the Blue Jays kept Gausman, there was a chance that Scherzer could have been let go this season, but they elected to keep him in the rotation.
The Jays will finish out a series with the AL East-leading Rays on Thursday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. ET. Shane Bieber will pitch against lefty Ian Seymour.
