Blue Jays' Max Scherzer might have fueled Phillies' latest big-money extension

All season long, the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays seemed to benefit from the leadership of Max Scherzer. The 41-year-old right hander was regarded as one of the clubhouse leaders and he was willing to work with anyone and everyone in an effort to help make the team better. He was also trusted to help make some big decisions. In fact, manager John Schneider asked Scherzer for his opinion during a big moment in Game 7 of the World Series.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise to Blue Jays fans to hear that Scherzer wasn't just limiting his mentorship to his teammates. In fact, there's one MLB pitcher in particular that may have just earned himself a contract extension thanks to that mentorship and that's Jesús Luzardo of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Blue Jays' Max Scherzer might have fueled Phillies' latest big-money extension

Scherzer and Luzardo have never been teammates, but in an article written by Alex Coffey for the Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required), Coffey details how Scherzer and Luzardo were gym buddies during the winter of 2024, heading into the 2025 season.

From the article, Coffey writes that the two pitchers would see each other almost every day at Cressey Sports Performance in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., where both pitchers train during the winter. Scherzer would quiz Luzardo about his game plans about specific teams, especially those in the NL East. Luzardo would take in the conversations, utilize the information and turned it into a successful season in 2025.

When a three-time Cy Young award winner and future Hall of Famer is giving you advice, you'd better listen, and Luzardo did. He pitched to a 3.9 bWAR with 216 strikeouts in 183.2 innings pitched, and accumulated a 3.92 ERA, while holding opponents to a .240 batting average and getting below league average contact in terms of average exit velocity (87.9) and hard hit percentage (37.4%).

Luzardo's baseball savant page looks like a giant stop sign. His 2025 numbers are pretty much all in the red, ranging from his xERA (80th percentile) to his K% (86 percentile). It seems like those numbers were good enough for the Phillies who signed the 28-year-old lefty to a five-year $135 million extension. Luzardo was set to hit free agency after the end of the year, but this will keep him with the Phillies now until 2031.

For Scherzer, this shows those invaluable intangibles that the Blue Jays liked so much and why they decided to bring him back for another go-around in 2026. He'll turn 42 during the year and he easily could have rode off into the sunset and called it a day. He's already a first ballot Hall of Famer, but for Scherzer, the drive to compete for another championship, and the opportunity to mentor younger pitchers was just too good to pass up.

From the article, the owner of Cressey Sports Performance, Eric Cressy, says, "Max likes to teach, especially for someone who wants to be great and asks the right questions. And I think that’s where he and Jesús have really hit it off.”

The Blue Jays have more than a handful of pitchers who want to be in the rotation including, Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, José Berrios, Trey Yesavage, Eric Lauer, Cody Ponce and eventually Shane Bieber. The more they listen to and heed the advice of Scherzer, the more likely they'll stick around in the big leagues.