Scherzer activated from IL; Turnbull designated for assignment

TORONTO -- Nearly three months since he made his debut with the Blue Jays, Max Scherzer is back.

Scherzer on Wednesday was activated from the 60-day injured list to start against Cleveland, a move the club hopes will mark the end of a long, challenging battle against his pesky right thumb. Right-hander Spencer Turnbull was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

“That’s a huge, huge addition for us,” manager John Schneider said after Sunday's 4-2 loss to the White Sox at Rogers Centre. “That’s Max Scherzer. I’ll take that any day of the week.”

Scherzer dealt with this thumb issue back in Spring Training and knows it well from the times he’s dealt with it in recent years. His main concern has been pitching with his thumb at anything less than 100%, as that leads to the threat of injuries further up the arm, so he and the Blue Jays built him back slowly this time. The 40-year-old got up to 75 pitches in his last Triple-A rehab outing with just “expected” soreness, though, and it’s time to let it rip again at the Major League level.

Scherzer threw a bullpen session Sunday in Toronto, simulating roughly two innings. The latter half of that finally acted as a between-starts session, simulating the hitters he expects to face on the Guardians instead of simply building up his pitch count. For as notoriously competitive as “Mad Max," there has to be a sense of relief and excitement that comes along with this return, even if Scherzer continues to reiterate that he’s not out of the woods just yet.

With Scherzer back and Eric Lauer taking over for the injured and struggling Bowden Francis, the Blue Jays finally have a regular, five-man rotation, something they’ve been chasing ever since Scherzer left his 2025 debut on March 29 after just three innings.

“He’s ready to go,” Schneider said. “The thumb is a thing. It’s a real thing. I think that getting to 75 pitches in his last start is a good thing and we just have to monitor it as we go. He knows his stuff is where it should be. I’m really, really excited to have him back.”

The Blue Jays are expected to keep Scherzer limited off the top. He should be clear to push past 75 this time, but don’t expect to see him throwing 110 pitches in a game any time soon. The Blue Jays could also look for spots to get Scherzer an extra day of rest when it’s possible in the coming months, but getting him through these first few outings and recoveries is the first step here.

Lost in all of these conversations about Scherzer’s right thumb has been the fact that, when he’s healthy, he’s still capable of being a very good MLB pitcher. His velocity was sitting in the 92-94 mph range in his last Triple-A outing, which is more than enough to work with at this stage in his career, and his slider is still as dangerous as ever.

There’s still at least one chapter left in Scherzer’s Hall of Fame career, and after the long wait, that’s about to begin again.