Blue Jays Reveal Max Scherzer's Injury After 2 Inning Start

April 07, 2026 ,
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Max Scherzer catches the ball during 2026 game.

Toronto needed something positive on Monday. 

A World Series rematch against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Rogers Centre, a chance to shake a five-game losing streak and remind everyone why the Blue Jays were supposed to be one of the best teams in the American League this season. 

Instead, they got a 14-2 blowout, another injury to their already decimated starting rotation, and a backup catcher pitching the ninth inning, for the second time in a week. 

Max Scherzer left the game after just two innings and 36 pitches, and the reason afterward was revealed to be right forearm tendinitis that he's been managing for two weeks. 

"I've been dealing with this little issue for a couple of weeks, but it's never been presenting when I've been throwing the ball," Scherzer said after the game. "I just needed to guard it today." 

He's hoping to make his next start Sunday against the Minnesota Twins.

Max Scherzer Injury Update

Scherzer was emphatic that he doesn't think this is an IL situation. 

The plan going into Monday was already limited (three innings maximum, 50 pitches) because the training staff knew about the forearm issue before the first pitch. 

He threw 36 and was pulled after two. "I didn't want to go to the IL. I just don't think this is an IL issue where I need to miss two starts," he said. "Given the state of our pitching staff, those were explicit directions — you cannot hurt yourself." 

Manager John Schneider said he is "fairly to quite confident" Scherzer makes his next start, and that pulling him early was specifically to protect his ability to do so. 

Last season, Scherzer left his first start with what was initially described as a minor thumb issue and ended up missing nearly three months. 

The Blue Jays' Rotation Is Running on Fumes

Trey Yesavage is on a rehab assignment with right shoulder impingement. Jose Berrios has a right elbow stress fracture. Shane Bieber is dealing with right elbow inflammation. Cody Ponce is also unavailable. 

That's four starters down before you get to Scherzer's forearm. The Blue Jays have used 21 bullpen innings in the last three days alone. They had a Saturday bullpen day in Chicago, an unplanned Sunday bullpen day when Eric Lauer lasted two innings with the flu, and now Monday's disaster against LA. 

Josh Fleming was called up from Triple-A Buffalo just to enter the game in the third inning and was greeted immediately by Shohei Ohtani, a two-run Freddie Freeman home run, and a Kazuma Okamoto error. 

Joe Mantiply, Tommy Nance, Spencer Miles, and eventually catcher Tyler Heineman, who has now pitched in two games this season, followed in the blowout. 

Patrick Corbin is the closest emergency option, having thrown 74 pitches for Single-A Dunedin on Saturday after signing a one-year deal, and Yesavage is building toward a return that could come within a few weeks if his Thursday rehab start goes cleanly. 

The Blue Jays need both, probably sooner than they'd like, and they have Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Ohtani on the mound the next two days. 

Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images 

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