Max Scherzer’s encouraging rehab start may finally ease pressure on Blue Jays bullpen

The Toronto Blue Jays have certainly been hard-pressed for starting pitching in recent times. With Dylan Cease being the latest Blue Jays pitcher to go down to injury, Toronto is practically running a three-man rotation with Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage and in-season acquisition Patrick Corbin. As a result, the Jays relievers have been taxed in covering for the fourth and fifth starting spots, with many starting to be overworked.

However, the easing of the pressure on the Blue Jays bullpen could finally see some daylight after the most recent rehab start made by veteran Max Scherzer. This past Sunday, Scherzer delivered three scoreless innings with four strikeouts for the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons. More importantly, he averaged greater than 93 mph on his fastball and generated four of his seven whiffs with his slider, as per Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.

 The eventual return of Scherzer could be the exact remedy for the Blue Jays rotation situation

That encouraging news couldn’t have come at a better time for the Blue Jays, who have been forced to use effective reliever Spencer Miles, along with the likes of Adam Macko and Austin Voth to cover starts in recent days. With such starts, they weren’t expected to give more than five innings, thus putting the load on the rest of the bullpen as well. As a short-term solution, there could be no issues, but it in the long run, it would come back to bite Toronto in a huge way with a burnt-out relief corps.

As a result, as Scherzer nears a return soon after another rehab start this Friday, he could be the much-needed boost for the Jays rotation going forward. Although the 41-year-old veteran did struggle to begin his 2026 campaign, compiling a 9.64 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, giving up 20 earned runs in just 18. 2 innings pitched over five starts. More worrisome was the fact that Scherzer couldn’t even last beyond the third inning in three of his five outings, giving up seven runs or more twice.

Much of his slow start was attributed to his multiple injuries that were later revealed as right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation. Scherzer may have also been trying to hard to pitch through those injuries since the team was already shorthanded at the time. It clearly wasn't effective as a less than 100% fully healthy Scherzer wasn't getting the job done.

That's why that rehab outing in Buffalo was encouraging. It's arguably the best Scherzer has looked since he pitched in last year's World Series. Right now, the Blue Jays don't need Scherzer to be the same guy that made him a hall of famer - they'll take exactly what the Bisons got from him every five days, because that's how desperate they are right now to have something that resembles an actual starting rotation.

There's also some personal motivation for Scherzer to try and perform well as he's chasing career strikeout number 3500 and trying to reach 3,000 innings pitched in his career. While already a no-doubt first ballot Hall of Famer, Scherzer's resume would really shine if he can reach those elite numbers.

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