If the Toronto Blue Jays were truly in the American League playoff race, I'm not sure that Max Scherzer would get another chance for them this season.

After all, he's been injured much of the year and has an ERA of more than 10 when he has pitched. That's not the kind of guy that you depend on in a playoff race over the final two months of a season.

But at 48-58 and with a looming trade deadline sale coming, the Blue Jays are in a position to give Scherzer some more opportunities down the stretch, and they'll give him a very meaningful one on Monday night.

As noted by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, Scherzer will start on Monday against the Washington Nationals - in Washington - where Scherzer starred for parts of seven years and helped Washington win the World Series in 2019.

With the Nationals, Scherzer made six All-Star teams, appearing in the game each year except for 2020, when it wasn't held because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He went 92-47 for Washington with a sterling 2.80 ERA. He also won two Cy Young Awards.

No one knows just how many chances the Blue Jays will give Scherzer over the course of the final two months, but he likely doesn't have many chances left to pitch in a place that he's meant so much to.

Scherzer will get an opportunity for a nice ovation, a solid video tribute and probably a curtain call at some point. He will deserve all of those things, and the Blue Jays will hope to get a vintage Scherzer start from him to go along with the moments.

On Sunday, longtime infielder Jeff Kent was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown alongside Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltran.

Kent spent a portion of the 1992 season with the Blue Jays, making his debut in Toronto before getting traded to the New York Mets for David Cone. 

As a result, he was not on the World Series team, but he is now one of 13 players to play for the Blue Jays and eventually make the Hall of Fame. We have the entire list here.

The Blue Jays lost to the Boston Red Sox 6-1 at Fenway Park. Kevin Gausman delivered a quality start, and with the trade deadline coming on Aug. 3, you have to wonder if this could be the final start for Gausman in a Blue Jays uniform.

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