Max Scherzer tossed an impressive four scoreless innings in his Toronto Blue Jays spring training debut against the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, Fla., Saturday afternoon.
Scherzer did not allow a hit and walked just one batter with one strikeout while throwing 40 pitches in the outing, 29 of them strikes.
Max Scherzer's 2026 spring debut with the #BlueJays:
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) March 7, 2026
4 IP • 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Fastball averaged 94.0 mph and touched 95.8. Everything about it was encouraging.
AS MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson notes, Scherzer’s fastball averaged 94.0 miles per hour and touched as high as 95.8.
The Blue Jays and Scherzer reached a one-year agreement last month for him to return to Toronto for his 19th MLB season. Scherzer told reporters this past week he feels great and anticipates being ready to start the season.
As Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Saturday, Scherzer’s deal includes a full no-trade clause and is for $3 million with as much as $10 million in additional incentives based on innings pitched benchmarks that start at 65 innings and increase in 10-inning increments up to 155 innings pitched.
Max Scherzer got a full no-trade clause along with $3M guaranteed plus $10M in incentives, $1M at each level starting at 65 IP in 10-inning increments to 155 IP #jays
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 7, 2026
Scherzer made 17 starts during the regular season last year for the Jays, turning in a 5.19 ERA with 82 strikeouts in 85.0 innings.
He also made three additional postseason appearances with two of them coming in the World Series.
The future Hall-of-Famer is a three-time Cy Young Award winner, an eight-time All-Star and a two-time World Series champion.
