Scherzer well on way to 'game speed' in 1st spring start
Francis follows hero Max in spring debut; Gausman's ramp-up on track
Keegan Matheson
@KeeganMathesonDUNEDIN, Fla. -- When Max Scherzer is on the mound, it doesn¡¯t matter that it¡¯s February.
The likely Hall of Famer made his spring debut for the Blue Jays in a 3-2 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday, and while the man going into his 18th MLB season knows there¡¯s nothing to be won or lost on Feb. 25, that still doesn¡¯t take away from the moment.
Scherzer in a Blue Jays jersey, even at 40, is an incredible sight. Toronto is trying to capture one more year of magic from Scherzer, who is finally back in a groove after battling through injuries last season, but the club doesn¡¯t need him to be the Cy Young winner at this point. All the Blue Jays are asking for are healthy, reliable innings -- and if Scherzer stays healthy, those innings could be more than just reliable.
¡°I¡¯m just trying to get sped up to game speed,¡± Scherzer said. ¡°You can throw as many bullpens as you want in the world, but that¡¯s not real. You need to get out there and face hitters. There¡¯s a game speed. I need to get back to game speed with mechanics, how everything works, where you want to deliver the ball and where you want to get the ball to -- at actual game speed. That¡¯s the ramp-up process of Spring Training.
Outside of a first-inning triple that eventually scored -- which included Joey Loperfido crashing into the wall and exiting with neck discomfort -- Scherzer looked fantastic. He struck out four batters over his two innings, topping out at 94.2 mph on a called third strike to Lars Nootbaar.
That¡¯s a meaningful number. Yes, even in February.
Scherzer¡¯s fastball average dipped to 92.5 mph last season, continuing the trend of at least an incremental drop in each season since 2019. A pitcher of Scherzer¡¯s caliber can still make that work, which we saw when he got Cardinals hitters to swing over the top of his incredible slider on Tuesday, but a healthy Scherzer with a little extra juice on his fastball can only be a good thing.
¡°I¡¯m not riding this roller coaster,¡± Scherzer said, grinning and dodging any invitation to evaluate a start in February. ¡°I¡¯m not saying this is good, bad, this or that. No. This is about coming out, checking a box, executing, being healthy and getting out of here.¡±
Well, if we want to judge it on his terms, Scherzer checked that box and got out of there, a fine first step in blue.
From here, the rest of spring is about Scherzer cranking up the intensity while both he and the organization adjust to one another. Some of that is meaningful, like the relationship between Scherzer and catcher Alejandro Kirk. Some of it is a little more aesthetic, like making sure the next guy doesn¡¯t get left hanging at the top of the dugout steps.
¡°We kind of realized on the fly that he doesn¡¯t really like giving high fives on the way in,¡± manager John Schneider joked.
Francis makes spring debut behind Scherzer
Back in junior college, Bowden Francis would pull up clips of Scherzer on YouTube. He was a Scherzer fan, like any young pitcher over the past couple of decades, and he has been right at Scherzer¡¯s side throughout the early days of Spring Training. After Francis¡¯ scheduled start was rained out Monday, he was pushed to Tuesday and followed Scherzer, throwing two innings of one-run ball.
¡°Oh, man, that¡¯s awesome. That¡¯s incredible,¡± Francis said. ¡°It¡¯s something I¡¯d kind of joke about. It doesn¡¯t seem like something that would ever happen. Coming out of the game and he¡¯s there, sitting next to you and talking about it? That¡¯s pretty funny. One of those rainy days that a good positive came out of.¡±
Gausman right on track
Kevin Gausman is expected to throw one more session against hitters at the Blue Jays¡¯ complex, before he gets into a Grapefruit League game the next trip through the rotation. This is what¡¯s worked for Gausman in the past, and after some right shoulder fatigue got in the way of his ramp-up a year ago, it sounds like he¡¯s in a much better spot this spring.
Gausman made it back in time for Opening Day last season, but later said on multiple occasions that he probably should have started the year with a brief IL stint. At full health and on a proper schedule, though, Gausman can still be a dominant starter in this league and will be considered for the Opening Day start, which he hasn¡¯t gotten yet in Toronto.