Max Scherzer makes concerning health revelation

Max Scherzer is now with a new team, but he is still apparently dealing with an old injury issue.

The Toronto Blue Jays righty Scherzer spoke to reporters on Monday and made a concerning revelation about his health. Scherzer said that he is dealing with a flare-up of a lingering right thumb injury that dates back to 2023. The three-time Cy Young winner also revealed that he is currently experiencing pain when he grips the ball.

“My thumb hurts. It hurts to grip the ball,” said Scherzer, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. “The critical thing I’ve learned over the years here is that your thumb is absolutely critical to your arm health. Unfortunately, this is what I’ve been dealing with since 2023.

“The danger of pitching with this is that you could sustain a shoulder injury,” Scherzer added.

Matheson notes that Scherzer threw a simulated game on Monday at the Blue Jays’ complex but began experiencing the pain around the 50-pitch mark. Now Scherzer is waiting to see how his thumb responds over the next few days and could now potentially be in danger of missing Opening Day, Matheson adds.

The 40-year-old Scherzer signed a one-year, $15.5 million deal with Toronto this offseason. But he has indeed battled some worrisome upper-body injuries over the last couple of seasons, including neck and triceps issues in 2023 and back and shoulder issues in 2024. As a result, Scherzer has been limited to 36 total starts in the last two years combined.

A few months ago, Scherzer offered an explanation for why he has had so many injuries pile up on him recently. Unfortunately, it sounds like the eight-time All-Star is still not close to 100 percent as he begins the 2025 season.

The Toronto Blue Jays announced Monday that right-hander Jose Berrios will be their 2025 season-opening starting pitcher.

Berrios will start the Blue Jays’ season for the second year in a row and the third time in the last four campaigns when he takes the mound March 27 against the visiting Baltimore Orioles.

He earned the win in an 8-2 road victory over the Tampa Bay Rays to open 2024. He gave up two runs on six hits while striking out six over six innings.

His opening-day start in 2022 was less memorable. He was pulled after allowing four earned runs in 1/3 of an inning before Toronto rallied for a 10-8 win over the Texas Rangers at Rogers Centre.

Berrios went 16-11 with a 3.60 earned-run average over 32 starts in 2024. He has a 1-0 record with a 2.35 ERA over four starts this spring.

The Blue Jays have won their last five season openers.