The Toronto Blue Jays could be getting three major pieces back with the major league club in the coming days, as MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson reports pitchers Dylan Cease and Max Scherzer as well as catcher Alejandro Kirk are all nearing returns from the injured list.
According to Matheson, Cease is slated to start on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies, while Scherzer is scheduled to start Wednesday’s series finale against the Phillies at the Rogers Centre.
Cease made one rehab start earlier this week, where he threw 75 pitches over four innings with Triple-A Buffalo. He landed on the injured list on May 25 with a left hamstring strain, one day after he was pulled in the middle of an outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters earlier in June that there was a chance Cease would only need one rehab start before he was able to rejoin the rotation.
The Blue Jays signed the 30-year-old Cease to the largest free-agent deal in franchise history this past off-season when they gave him a seven-year deal worth $210 million. Cease was delivering on that contract in a big way through 12 starts, as he owns a 3.05 earned-run average with 92 strikeouts (which led the American League at the time he was placed on the IL) over 62.0 innings.
Scherzer also pitched a rehab outing earlier this week as he continues to work back from a late-April trip to the injured list with right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation.
The 41-year-old appeared in five games this season for the Blue Jays before he was placed on the 15-day IL and posted a 1-3 record with a 9.64 ERA with 10 strikeouts over 18.2 innings.
Kirk has been out since the beginning of April, when he suffered a fractured thumb on a foul tip against the Chicago White Sox. The veteran and two-time All-Star had a .150 batting average and one home run in five games before he was placed in the IL.
The Blue Jays (32-34) open a three-game set with the Phillies on Monday.
