Max Scherzer was scratched from his Fenway start Wednesday with back spasms, earning his second IL trip of the season for Toronto.
The Toronto Blue Jays lost pitcher Max Scherzer ahead of a massive start against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Wednesday. They scratched him just hours before the first pitch and will ultimately place him on the injured list due to back spasms.
To replace him, the Blue Jays recalled rookie Chad Dallas from Triple-A Buffalo, and he’ll be expected to pitch behind opener Braydon Fisher.
The trip to IL is Scherzer’s second of the season after heading there due to right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation earlier this year. Unfortunately, his play hasn’t done much to justify lengthy absences, as he carries a meager 10.23 ERA through six starts, with only one start coming since his last IL activation back on June 10. His attempts to pitch through the pain weren’t able to overcome much.
Moreover, he’s only had two “normal” starts of six innings, while the other four have either been hastened by injury or by workload limits, ranging from two to 3.1 innings pitched.
To read more about this latest IL stint, and what it means for Scherzer’s future in Toronto, here is the full story from Blue Jays Roundtable writer Brady Farkas.
Scherzer has been trying to pitch to stay in the rotation, but things may change now with Shane Bieber nearing his rotation return from IL after working through forearm and elbow issues that popped up during the team’s 2025 World Series run.
The club hopes that he made his final rehab start on Wednesday with Triple-A Buffalo, which was a bit of a rough one, though he did reach a significant 80 pitch count over five innings. His return was thought to force a choice between Scherzer and veteran lefty Patrick Corbin, but this second stint might make that decision an easy one.
