{"id":502222,"date":"2026-02-27T03:40:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/502222\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T03:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:40:07","slug":"blue-jays-set-to-get-fiery-pitcher-max-scherzer-back-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/502222\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays set to get fiery pitcher Max Scherzer back for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer caught fans’ interest during last year’s ALCS when he yelled at manager John Schneider, who wanted to take him out of Game 4 in the fifth inning.Frank Gunn\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Max Scherzer said he wasn\u2019t done with baseball last year and it appears he was right.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old pitcher agreed on Wednesday to a one-year contract with the Blue Jays<\/a> but he still needs to pass a physical exam before the agreement is finalized.<\/p>\n

Toronto has not said when the physical will take place. If all goes well, however, he is likely to report to the club\u2019s training facility in Dunedin, Fla., over the weekend.<\/p>\n

Scherzer has pitched for seven major league teams over 18 seasons, is an eight-time all-star and was won three Cy Young Awards, which are presented to the best pitcher each year in the American and National Leagues.<\/p>\n

He signed a one-year contract for US$15.5-million with Toronto just before the start of spring training in 2025 and he turned out to be a valuable addition to the pitching staff. He won Game 4 of the American League Championship Series to tie it 2-2, after the Blue Jays had lost the first two games to Seattle at Rogers Place.<\/p>\n

Opening days of Blue Jays\u2019 spring training full of good vibes<\/a><\/p>\n

In Game 4 of the ALCS, Scherzer barked at manager John Schneider and refused to leave the pitchers\u2019 mound in the fifth inning. He attempted to retrieve Scherzer to the dugout but decided not to when he went full-bulldog on him.<\/p>\n

He hasn\u2019t earned the nickname Mad Max for nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been waiting for Max to yell at me all year,\u201d Schneider said afterward. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was awesome. I thought he was going to kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scherzer also made two starts in the World Series; In Game 7, he had a good start in what became a crushing one-run defeat in 11 innings.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Scherzer waves to the crowd as he leaves Game 7 of last year’s World Series.Nathan Denette\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Toronto held a 3-2 lead in the series but was unable to win one of the next two at home. It last won the World Series in 1993.<\/p>\n

Scherzer has been reported to have agreed to a one-year contract for US$3-million and an opportunity to earn as much as US$10-million in bonuses. The terms have yet to be confirmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am glad we were able to work out a deal,\u201d Schneider said on Thursday afternoon. He said he spoke to Scherzer both Wednesday and Thursday morning. \u201cWe know him and he can still help us win games. Hopefully he passes a physical and we\u2019re looking forward to having him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scherzer won World Series titles with Houston in 2019 and Texas in 2023. He has also thrown no-hitters twice and has a 221-117 record in regular-season games. He needs to pitch just 37 innings to reach 3,000 for his career.<\/p>\n

Opinion: It ended in defeat, but the Blue Jays gave fans a magic World Series<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not quite clear how he might be used by the Blue Jays. He could possibly end up in the starting rotation but that is a big ask for a fellow who will turn 42 on July 27 and threw only 85 innings a year ago. Him being a spot starter is more likely.<\/p>\n

The rotation already includes Kevin Gausman, who made his first start of the spring against the Miami Marlins on Thursday and worked a scoreless inning. Dylan Cease is a cinch to be the No. 1 or No. 2 starter, and Schneider has already committed another spot to Cody Ponce. Trey Yesavage has yet to pitch while Jos\u00e9 Berr\u00edos is making a run at returning to the rotation after injuries. Eric Lauer will make his second start on Friday and Shane Bieber, who has sat out so far due to arm soreness should be available in the next month to six weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see,\u201d the manager said about Scherzer. \u201cHe\u2019s keeping himself ready, so we\u2019ll have to sit down, look at what the rest of the calendar for spring looks like and go from there. One of the things we do know about him is he\u2019s very particular about routines, so we\u2019ll hash that out when he gets here.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I could keep everybody happy. Their play, their performance dictates it and everyone\u2019s a big boy. They understand where we\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer caught fans’ interest during last year’s ALCS…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49,48,82,8023],"class_list":{"0":"post-502222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-topstory"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}