TORONTO — Max Scherzer’s final start of the regular season produced one of the darker moments of the Blue Jays’ season. The right-hander was bled by the Boston Red Sox for four runs in a loss that dropped Toronto into a tie with the Yankees for top spot in the American League East.
The Blue Jays had lost six of seven games and were in a free-fall. Scherzer was asked during his post-game media availability what his message to teammates would be on how to deal with times like that.
“For me, how I answer that question is I’m a high-adrenaline pitcher,” Scherzer responded. “I go out there with my hair on fire and try to get outs. And so, that’s a recipe for me.
“Other guys, they’re going to have different thoughts on how they want to go out there,” he continued. “You just gotta get back to who you are. And this game can just flip in a heartbeat.”
The burning intensity Scherzer talks about has become his trademark. It’s how he earned the nickname “Mad Max,” and it’s the foundation upon which his 18-year, Hall-of-Fame-worthy career was built.
The 41-year-old struggled down the stretch and has openly discussed his troubles executing pitches. He’s trended downward, allowing 25 earned runs over his past 25 innings spanning six starts.
However, with the post-season upon us, that’s all in the past.
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While his exact role is unclear at the moment, Scherzer will likely get the chance to overwrite his recent failures at some point in the coming days. This environment is what the Blue Jays envisioned when they signed Scherzer to a one-year deal in the winter — and if the right-hander is going to contribute, he will undoubtedly dip into his boiling cauldron of intensity.
“It’s nice to see a guy come off the mound with that kind of fire,” says Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “You get what looks like a caged animal coming at you with two different colour eyes, and you have to learn how to process that.”
Scherzer has impressed teammates and coaches for nearly two decades with a focus and diligence that’s better suited for Delta Force than the diamond. In an effort to learn more about his personality and how his mind works, we zoomed in on one of Scherzer’s late-season starts.
The process offered a closer look at an intriguing pitcher who captivates, motivates and, at times, frustrates those in his orbit.
Redcon: Pre-game
It’s Aug. 25 and the Blue Jays are hosting the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a three-game set at Rogers Centre. Scherzer arrives in Schneider’s office around 2:30 p.m. for a status check with the manager, just like he does before every start.
The two discuss how the right-hander feels, the expectation of his pitch count, and even touch on who’s available out of the bullpen.
“I remember even going back to the first Zoom call with him in the off-season,” Schneider recalls. “He said to me, ‘I’m a manager on the mound. I know my pitch count. I know my opposing starters’ pitch count. I know their bullpen availability. I know our bullpen availability. I know where they are in the order. I know where we are in our order.’
“You take that with a grain of salt. And then you see him process that before the game and in the game. It’s pretty unique.”
Once Scherzer is done chatting with his manager, he heads to find pitching coach Pete Walker and confirm a time for the pitchers’ meeting, which will also include catcher Alejandro Kirk and other members of the pitching department.
Because it’s Scherzer’s mound day, his demeanour is more serious than usual.
“You can tell by his look he’s already got his game face on,” Walker says.
At 3:45 p.m., the meeting commences, and Scherzer’s already prepared. He carries his own binder with detailed written notes on past encounters with hitters. The pages even include data from spring training and cover everything from how hitters handle high fastballs and their tendencies late in the count to where defenders should be positioned in the field.
The scouting reports are backed by a heavy dose of fortitude. That’s what stands out the most about Scherzer, according to Kirk.
“He never gives credit to any hitter,” Kirk says through interpreter Hector Lebron. “I mean, never. He always says, ‘I can beat this guy,’ regardless of who it is. His confidence on everything that he does is what I think makes him so successful.”
Just under three hours later, it’s time for Scherzer to head to left field to begin warming up. He’ll work in some dynamic stretching and jogging before graduating to throwing off the mound. All of that is carried out with precise timing as Scherzer wants to finish everything before 6:57 p.m., when the national anthems are played.
“When he gets to the bullpen, there’s no high-five,” says Kirk. “No talking to anyone. It’s game mentality. That’s just different.”
Firefight: Game action
Scherzer’s routine translates nicely into game action as he retires 11 of the first 12 Twins he faces. He doesn’t mind talking between innings, something Walker learned about the right-hander earlier this season. The pitching coach also discovered that Scherzer is someone who craves different opinions.
“But your opinion has to have substantial backing,” says Walker, noting Scherzer has no problem calling out team personnel. “It can’t just be a thought. It’s got to have something behind it.”
Walker works through an adjustment period with every pitcher under his watch and, of course, his process of understanding Scherzer was interesting.
“I’m a very positive pitching coach,” says Walker. “I dig and have a lot of fun with guys, obviously, but with him it’s like he wants to be pushed, he wants to be nudged. He wants you to be like, ‘That was the wrong pitch at the wrong time. You gotta execute that better. We can’t have a two-out walk in that situation.’
“He wants to be told. He knows it, but he wants to hear it. If you don’t do that, I think it turns him away.”
Earlier this year, Scherzer told Schneider a story from his time with the Nationals. Washington’s lineup had scored a bunch of runs early in one game, and Scherzer immediately gave those runs back. He ended up settling down, though, willing himself to a quality start.
The next day, Nationals hitting coach Kevin Long was waiting for Scherzer in the clubhouse.
“And he said, ‘You’re not the guy I thought you were,’” relays Schneider. “‘We grind and we score early off of their ace and you can’t shut the lineup down and you can’t just give us some room to breathe.’”
Scherzer loved the interaction.
“He needs to hear that,” says Schneider. “I think that keeps the fire burning.”
The anecdote offers context for what’s about to unfold during Scherzer’s outing against the Twins at Rogers Centre. The right-hander is cruising with a comfortable 6-1 lead and punches out the first batter he faces in the sixth inning. Trouble follows quickly, though, as the Twins use a walk, single and groundout to score one run and bring Matt Wallner, a left-handed slugger who took Scherzer deep earlier in the contest, to the plate.
Scherzer has already thrown 19 pitches in the inning, and Schneider and Walker are debating whether to have the pitching coach head out for a mound visit to give the right-hander a breather and go over strategy. With first base open, the expectation is that Scherzer will pitch around Wallner. Schneider has had enough in-game tactical conversations with Scherzer on days he’s not pitching to trust that the right-hander is thinking the same thing and ultimately decides against a mound visit.
It turns out Scherzer has a different idea. He’s in attack mode but fails to execute, leaving a first-pitch fastball up and away that Wallner crushes 432 feet into the right-field stands for a two-run shot that cuts the Blue Jays’ lead to 6-4.
Scherzer doesn’t even turn to watch the ball leave the yard. He knows he made a mistake and is seething. After retiring the next batter to end the frame, the right-hander knows his day is done. He heads into the dugout to chat with Walker about his decisions during the Wallner at-bat.
“I’m not going to get too far into the weeds on this,” says Scherzer following the game, a 10-4 Blue Jays win. “I know where my instincts were. I know what I was trying to do. And I made some wrong checks and made wrong decisions in those moments, and paid for it.”
Debrief: The next day
Schneider and Scherzer sit down the next day for a debrief, and the manager doesn’t mince words. He’s pissed.
Schneider thought the right-hander was going to throw four changeups to Wallner, and if he chased, that would be great; if not, let him take first base and focus on the next hitter.
“It was the first time I was mad at you because my job is to put the team in the best position to win,” Schneider says to Scherzer. “Your job is to pitch the way you pitch, and in talking to you and trusting you, I thought you were gonna navigate that at-bat differently than you did.”
The manager asks Scherzer to explain his thought process, and the veteran responds that he felt he could blow his fastball by Wallner when it’s up in the zone.
“Did you have your good fastball at that point at 94 pitches?” asks Schneider.
“No,” responds Scherzer.
They continue to unpack the veteran’s decisions, and he’s not defensive — quite the opposite. Scherzer is appreciative of Schneider’s frankness, and this conversation is turning out to be incredibly productive. It’s helping Scherzer understand his manager and allowing Schneider to get inside the head of a pitcher whom he’ll need to depend on in the coming months.
The hope is that this back-and-forth will yield some nuggets that will come in handy when the stakes inevitably rise.
“So the trust continues to get stronger and stronger,” says Schneider. “If everyone doesn’t understand exactly what the other person is thinking in real time, it leads to some tougher interactions or it leads to some not fully invested decisions.”
In recounting his conversation with Scherzer, Schneider adds one final detail. As Scherzer exited the manager’s office, he dropped a line that stood out.
“This is great,” Scherzer said. “This is the f—— standard. This is how we get better.”
