WASHINGTON — This time, there was little argument when Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider came to the mound to take the ball from Max Scherzer.
This time, as Scherzer departed the mound for the dugout and a small but spirited Nationals Park crowd of 17,618 offered a standing ovation, Scherzer didn’t stare daggers and skulk into the dugout.
Instead, he turned and wearily offered a wave of his right hand to a crowd that still reveres him for his work in Washington.
On Monday, July 27, Scherzer celebrated his 42nd birthday by returning to a major league mound for the first time since June 10 and just the ninth time this season. Back spasms shelved him most recently for six weeks, just one start after he returned from another six-week absence due to right forearm tendinitis and ankle inflammation.
Yet the details are almost irrelevant. Simply, Scherzer is old.
And if the past two seasons have proven anything, it is that any time he can climb a mound in the big leagues, it should not be taken for granted.
Monday, that was the case both for Scherzer and the crowd that saluted him before and after his 2 2/3-inning, 75-pitch return to the majors.
“That’s the best part. That’s why I still do this,” says Scherzer after he and six relievers combined to suppress the Nationals’ league-leading offense in a 3-2 victory.
“No matter what team you’re on, where you’re at, when you get the ball and you can toe the rubber, there’s no other feeling I’d rather have than being on a big league mound, competing at people.”
On this night, he wasn’t exactly Mad Max, stalking the mound and talking to himself after pitches. More like Steamed Scherzer, retaining his energy on a 91-degree evening, a replacement jersey, undershirt and three caps waiting in the tunnel behind the Blue Jays dugout in case he got too sweaty.
But at this age, with his nagging ailments, getting back was most of the battle.
In 2025, Scherzer seemed to dust off every trick in his bag to piece together 17 starts, plus two more in the playoffs, despite a vexing thumb condition and more back issues. And the magic that drove him to two World Series titles, three Cy Young Awards and now, more than 3,500 strikeouts seemed to return in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, when he screamed at Schneider during a mound conference in the fifth inning, won the fight to stay in the game and delivered a crucial victory.
When the Blue Jays fell two outs shy of winning a World Series, Scherzer was so moved by the experience he returned on a one-year, $3 million contract, smallest of his career. Yet nothing’s gone right since: The Blue Jays have been touched by injuries, felled by underperformance from superstar first baseman Vladimir Guerrero and entered Monday, this final week before the MLB trade deadline, 48-58 and 13th among 16 AL teams.
As Scherzer took the mound, it was hard to ignore that his longtime teammate and tepid rival Justin Verlander, 43, announced his retirement at the end of the season. Verlander’s body has allowed the 266-game winner just one start this year, and perhaps not another.
The crowd on hand seemed to sense that they shouldn't take Monday's moment lightly.
When Scherzer wandered out to the bullpen for pregame work, a handful of fans by the left field fence broke into applause that echoed through the nearly empty ballpark. When lineups were announced, he was introduced over the public address system as “starting pitcher and 2019 World Series champion Max Scherzer.”
And when Scherzer hopped out of the dugout for the bottom of the first inning, a 75-second standing ovation, unprompted, poured out from the crowd as he began his warmups. All that was missing was “Still D.R.E.,” his longtime entrance music here.
But Scherzer heard it all and felt he had to respond in kind as he walked to the third base dugout after he was pulled.
“It’s good, it’s special,” he says. “I’ve got a lot of great memories here in D.C. I wanted to show the fans respect, as well, because they were cheering the whole time, even when I was warming up.”
What they say was not the Scherzer of old, nor was that to be expected. Scherzer’s first pitch after turning 42 was laced into center field by 23-year-old James Wood. Luis Garcia Jr. followed with another hit, and a walk to CJ Abrams loaded the bases.
Yet there was also this: Scherzer tying up Jose Tena with an 85-mph changeup for a strikeout. Two batters later, he did the same to 24-year-old Dylan Crews, a couple pitches after Crews committed an act of violence on Scherzer’s once-dominant slider, ripping a ball that drilled Wood in foul territory at third base.
Finally, Scherzer got Daylen Lile to roll softly to first. First inning over. No damage.
And so it went for nearly three innings. Scherzer’s old reliables, his 96-mph heat and devastating slider, are certified pre-owned versions nowadays, replaced by touch and feel. Scherzer got four whiffs on the dozen changeups he threw.
And he uncorked a curveball that would make late-career Zack Greinke blush, a 75-mph rainbow that proved wildly effective. The offspeed and breaking shtick limited but did not erase damage: Scherzer needed 50 pitches to get through two innings, gave up an RBI double Garcia ripped off the wall, yet just one run despite yielding four hits and three walks.
His 75th and last pitch of the night came with one out in the bottom of the third, a 73-mph hook to Lile, who ended a 12-pitch battle by flailing at it with a runner on third.
“Just keep executing. Keep executing. Stay in the fight,” says Scherzer, recounting the mantra popularized by Nationals manager Dave Martinez during their 2019 World Series run. “Recognize what he’s trying to do, what pitch is next, what we need to challenge him with. It eventually became a 3-2 curveball and I was able to execute."
And out came Schneider, satisfied Scherzer gave him eight outs, four by strikeout, and setting the stage for just the Blue Jays’ third victory in nine games. This time, the conversation was a little more cordial.
“A lot of pitches in three innings for his first start back,” says Schneider. “We’ve known him long enough to have a good feel for what he’s feeling.
“He said, ‘Your call.’ And I said, ‘That was a lot right there.’ And he said ‘Yeah, your call.’ And I said, ‘OK, nice job.’”
Better yet, Scherzer said he came out of the start feeling fine and both he and Schneider said he’s in line to make his next start, Sunday at Rogers Centre against St. Louis. A day later, an uncertain future begins.
With the Blue Jays nearly out of playoff contention, Scherzer – who has a full no-trade clause - likely won’t have the runway to convince a contender he can provide the October magic he sprinkled through Toronto and Texas, Los Angeles and Washington and Detroit.
“Look, our record is our record. It’s frustrating as heck that we’re in this position,” says Scherzer. “You get caught up in the distractions of everything going around us now, that’s not the way you play big league baseball.”
As for 2027?
There was very little to suggest Scherzer is ready to toss away his jersey for good. He noted the good fortune of being in a slightly better physical position than Verlander, who finally ran into enough ailments he couldn’t dodge.
Monday, Scherzer’s wife Erica, their children and many family members were on hand. There was a birthday to be celebrated, and perhaps the relief of a career hanging on, in search of his next most effective pitch to keep getting outs.
“I thought it would be too special,” says Scherzer, “to miss out – to pitch on my birthday, to pitch back here.”
And for as long as his body will allow him.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A birthday worth savoring: Max Scherzer, 42, makes appreciative return to mound
