What's the plan after Scherzer (thumb) receives 2nd cortisone shot?

TORONTO -- Max Scherzer has a very important right thumb.

If his thumb behaves and Scherzer bounces back into this Blue Jays rotation a few weeks from now, an already excellent rotation could be one of the best in baseball. If that thumb keeps barking, then this anxious conversation stretches on and Toronto’s depth will be further tested.

Scherzer recently received a second cortisone shot in his thumb after meeting with another hand specialist. A second shot isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement that the first one did the trick, but manager John Schneider -- who moonlights as a doctor for 10 minutes a day when reporters invade his office -- said that this shot was delivered to a different area of the thumb’s joint.

We’ve seen just three innings of Scherzer before this long-lingering thumb issue forced him out of his Blue Jays debut, but the flashes of the likely future Hall of Famer in camp were enough to show one thing clearly: When Scherzer is fully healthy and fully comfortable, he can still mow through a big league lineup. That’s still in there, but his body isn’t letting it out.

The plan from here

Scherzer will rejoin the Blue Jays on Monday in Houston for their road trip that carries on to New York later next week. The club hopes Scherzer can play catch early in the week, which is the first important test.

This is where it’s valuable to compare this ramp-up to what Scherzer attempted over the past two weeks. After Scherzer’s last cortisone injection at the beginning of April, he slowly progressed back to throwing, which he did multiple times on the recent road trip through New York and Boston. At Fenway Park, Scherzer said he still felt some “lingering tightness” related to the injection itself, so this was a day-to-day battle as he’d try to ramp up and feel out how his thumb would react.

In a perfect world, Scherzer throws without pain, gets back on a mound in a week and spends a couple of weeks building back up as a starter, blowing past that magic number of 50 pitches that has given his thumb trouble in the past. As you’ve already seen, though, this thumb issue is complicated. It’s better to view this narrowly. Playing catch without pain is step one, so it’s time for a second crack at step one.

Testing the rotation depth

Easton Lucas has given the Blue Jays two fantastic starts and an ugly one, allowing eight runs over five innings his last time out. He deserves the opportunity to bounce back from that, though, and the club holds genuine optimism that Lucas is unlocking some real upside as a starter. It’s beyond Lucas where this gets cloudier.

No. 6 prospect Jake Bloss felt like he could be next in line when the season opened, but the early days in Triple-A haven’t been kind to him. Bloss has allowed 19 runs (13 earned) on 19 hits and nine walks over 11 1/3 innings. Lazaro Estrada has gotten rocked, and while Eric Lauer’s numbers don’t jump off the page just yet, his experience makes him an option to be the next man up.

There’s not exactly a crowd at the door trying to kick it down, though, making Lucas’ performance -- and Scherzer’s thumb -- all the more important.

In the meantime … coach Scherzer?

If you get Scherzer going on the topic of baseball, you’d better have the next hour free.

“He’s invested in everything,” Schneider said. “He still wants to pitch. He wants to be part of it.”

If he’s not in Schneider’s office talking ball, he’s saddled up next to one of the coaches in the dugout. Last week at Fenway Park, Scherzer was next to Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker during the game. When Schneider stepped down from the railing to grab a water, he turned back to see Scherzer had already slid over to take his spot.

“He’s in here a lot,” Schneider said, laughing and pointing to an empty chair in his office. “He just loves talking baseball. He likes to just talk about the game, which is cool. There’s times where I’m like, ‘Hey, Max, I’m managing, we’ve got to talk about stuff.’”

Yes, there’s value in this. Chris Bassitt went out of his way last week to say just how important it’s been to have Scherzer around, but he’s here to pitch, and that’s all up to a pesky right thumb.