OverDrive - Matheson on Scherzer's injury complications, the team's opening series and the formation of the Blue Jays' lineup

Episode Date: March 31, 2025

MLB.com Blue Jays Reporter Keegan Matheson joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the Blue Jays, Max Scherzer landing on the IL and his timeline of the injury, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s start to the season, the series against the Nationals and more.

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Made in Canada, played in Canada. On the free iHeartRad and i have a radio dot c there's our good friend keegan matheson of them will be dot com ahead of the series with the nationals in town areas keegan are you aware of any blue jays contemplating the torpedo bat tonight i think david schnider guys is the one who has one uh... john schnider today said that earnings and that was trying to steal it for a couple games but

it's interesting you know i i feel like this is something we saw this with erin judge on the yankees where he kind of said listen my numbers are cool i don't need a weird bat i don't think that is going to be rushing to grab one of these i don't think boba shetset's going to go out of his way, but if you're a certain type of hitter, if you're looking for something, maybe. And I'm interested where this lands two or three weeks from now guys after the

big buzz, the big pop of all this is over. Does it stick around? Do certain players lean into it? But it's different. It's new and I can't believe that nobody had thought of this yet. You know, I'm not smart enough to think of this and what I can do but that nobody had thought of this yet For as old as baseball is it's interesting Hegan the first thing on our mind today is what happened to our boy love lady. He wasn't around that long. I Was telling these guys my relationship with this Toronto sports athlete. I turned on the TV

He threw one pitch and I was like, kind of don't like this guy very much. And I turned the TV back to golf and then this guy was sent away and I'll never see him again. Can you explain this transaction from start to finish? You know what guys, if you were to bring up like the 2021 or 2019 blue jays, there'd be a few players on there. And I covered those teams where I would have no memory of Ever covering them. That's probably gonna be Richard Lovelady now at this time looking back. This did not go

Well, it did not last long It makes you ask some questions about how they put this bullpen together to begin with I think but if you are a lefty You've got to get lefties out. Ideally, you're not going to hit multiple lefties. It did not go well. Richard Love Lady, a fan favorite, short-lived, flew too close to the sun and it's over. But man, it was beautiful while it lasted. Yeah, it was. And it is, it's kind of an embarrassing moment.

Like it happens in baseball. There's a few teams that have already designated some guys for assignment and they've moved on. But like three games into the season when the bullpen was a disaster last year depth within the organization is at the forefront of a lot of conversations keegan well it screams how was he even here how did he break camp with the team and why are they already making the adjustments and now you got the scherzer stuff which we'll get to more momentarily. But it's like the arms within the organization are already being tested and game five is happening tonight. Exactly guys, we saw this late last year,

August and September, where there was a new waiver-wiring guy here every single day. Half of the names which I'll probably forgive me at this point. And you don't wanna be there, guys it's still March. Like it's not April yet. You do not wanna be talking about bullpen depth right now. Ideally, if you're a major league team, you enter a year with your solid eight relievers

and you've got one or two guys who you're okay with in AAA. You're fine if you pull them up. They can be the number eight guy down there, no problem. Right now, the Blue Jays can go maybe five deep in their bullpen with confidence. Not a good place to be right now. I don't know if they have a long man, a true long man, which is tough. Talking about starting East in Lucas maybe as early as Wednesday, which is not the plan. This is not where it was supposed to be. It's always going to get here, but that's normally in July or August,

because the pessimistic side of me, guys, which is a very small part I'm normally such a sunny optimist, but the pessimistic side Tells me that one more bad bounce. It's even worse one more bad day. This can get even worse So they need to find some depth quickly this gets back to player developments and having your own options internally But I think we're gonna start to see that churn Way way way earlier than you want to. So Keegan, where are we at with this Max Scherzer situation? Do you have faith that this is just a bump in the road

or is this gonna be maybe a foreshadowing of what's gonna be for the full season? Guys, if this was just his thumb, if it was only the phone a little more optimism but when that some injury in the way the match explains it it starts to crawl up the forearm then you get to the elbow then you get to the upper arm right now it's the shoulder that lat muscle from the back of the armpit

can you explain just quickly like how something with your thumb crawls anywhere i need to know this it's like the children's song about you you know the knee bones connect it's it's interesting how this goes though guys and and hearing this from Max because I was interested too guys because you're more familiar with maybe a wrist or a hand injury going up the forearm and the elbow that's a little clearer but the way he describes this is that you start to throttle your effort level up or Down based on your thumb you might start throwing from a bit different angle and the shoulder in particular as

You're driving through the ball Maybe you're putting a little more strain on that shoulder because you can't get that strength from the hand to be releasing it It's complicated. It's pretty unique to be releasing it. It's complicated. It's pretty unique. Frankly, this is not an injury or a chain of injuries that I've really looked at too much in baseball or dealt with. Pictures coming through here. But guys, the tone of this was never good with Max Scherzer down and done either. When he was talking to us the last week of camp, I was thinking, holy crap, this sounds worrying. Then suddenly it was okay, and then suddenly it wasn't. He's saying things like I was about to put myself

in imminent danger, and that's not what you wanna hear. This does not sound like something that will be resolved quickly. He's got 15 days in the IL. I don't think we're seeing him 15 days from now, but should know more tomorrow, and really guys, my main takeaway is that this is complicated and complicated is not good with a pitcher especially a 40 year old pitcher coming

off multiple injuries. With Keegan Matheson and Scherzer said after the game with the media that he went up to Schneider beforehand and gave him a warning. What does your read on that? Was he kind of sending a vibe out to Schneider? Like maybe you should pull me before I even go on the mound? Like what is your interpretation of why Scherzer laid the framework for what was about to happen before the game even started with Schneider?

Yeah, so the way he explained it guys is that he felt it a little bit in the bullpen, that lat starting to pull. You're always going to feel stuff if anybody knows what they can pitch through at this point it's probably Max Scherzer's experience. So he kind of slid by John Schneider and Pete Walker. That could not have felt good for John Schneider. I mean you're standing in the dugout sipping your coffee and suddenly you're starting

pitchers saying listen today might not be great. And he tried to pitch through this they got him out what appears to be just in time before something really blew or really got dangerous which is what Scherzer was talking about but we saw exactly in that outing guys how quickly it can go wrong that's the type of outing that exposes the Blue Jays bullpen depth as not being good enough because suddenly you're getting into the fourth fifth sixth, sixth inning, you're trying to fill, you're trying to stretch it to the back end,

which is a fine back end, but you gotta get there. And again, if you're John Schneider, you're Pete Walker, that could not have been a reassuring visit from Max Scherzer, did all he could do, but clearly, clearly very frustrated, like really frustrated frustrated you can sense Yeah, and that's my concern if I'm the blue jays is that You know he may go for an MRI which I'm sure he's had and they'll come back and say there's nothing structural

yet, he's going to control it and There's nothing they can do about it like with Max Schurzer with a guy of his status Not that you're forcing guys to play your pitch or be heard or anything like that, but there are conversations where you feel like you can have some control. They are not going to have an ounce of control with Max Scherzer. None. And if the way he was speaking afterwards, he laid it out on the line. It's like, I'm not pitching again until I get my thumb figured out. That who knows when that's going to be. And if a doctor doctor goes I don't know how to help you yet every time this guy grips a ball he goes I can feel it in my thumb he's not gonna pitch and if that's the case I mean for me I feel like everything's on the line here Keegan maybe back in three weeks

or a month maybe he never pitches again like I don't think that that's too that's not a crazy suggestion that this guy just isn't gonna be a part of this club all year and if that's the case then suggestion that this guy just isn't going to be a part of this club all year and if that's the case then what but what are they going to do to fulfill what they were hoping was twenty twenty five maybe thirty starts from a future hall of famer

yeah that's exactly what i mean when it when i say complicated that dead on because if this was listed that there's a bit of shoulder soreness will let the information get out. We have timelines, we have blueprints for that. But he's visiting a hand specialist, I believe yesterday in Pennsylvania, a great state for hand specialists,

I'm told, Pennsylvania. But he's going to be back with the team here today. And if this is a simple solution, great, but that would surprise me. Because if this was simple, they would have figured it out by now. This isn't a brand new thing. He's dealt with this for multiple years

and multiple organizations. Each of these organizations has an entire hospital of doctors, of specialists, of tests that they can run. So if you're not figuring it out yet, I would be surprised if you suddenly do this time. And that's where this gets a little dangerous for the Blue Jays. You can get through one or two trips through the rotation. Easton Lucas can go out and shut down the Mets or the Nationals next time out just because they haven't seen them before. That happens,

that's easy. But if you're talking about months instead of weeks, if you're starting to feel four, five, six, 10 starts, that's when this rotations depth gets exposed. And that rotation depth has not been tested for a long time, fellas. Go back even three years was it when Ross Stripling just stepped in and saved this rotation. There's always been one guy there to save the day. That's a pretty tall task right now as they wait for a Manoa or someone else to come back mid season. It can get shaky pretty quickly and that trickles over right into the bullpen. You torch that bullpen once you spend the rest of the

week trying to chase it again. Hegan, what was the vibe on the weekend or throughout the first four games around Vladdy? Interesting guys, it seems like he is hitting everything hard shooting it the other way, playing well. The attention hasn't really been on the contract too much. I haven't heard too much talk about that here at the stadium. That's going to change real quick in what, three days when I land in Queens and go over to the New York Mets Stadium. It's going to

change in seven days when I get to Boston and I show up to Fenway Park because you're going to see a lot of media from that side come over to the Blue Jays side and say, hey, Vladdy, would you like to play here in New York? Would you like to play here in Boston, et cetera, et cetera? It's going to blow up again, I think, on the road. What you're going to see happen, I think, in terms of Toronto Canadian narrative with this is if he's going really hot or really cold. I think he's looked pretty good so far. You haven't really seen him turn on one. It seems like he's still finding it right now. But if he gets a hot streak, if he gets a cold streak, this becomes pretty big again. Thankfully guys, I have not woken up to any translated interviews recently where

he's demanding something wild and I'm typing a lot of things into Google Translate just yet, but you never know when it's going to drop. And it's been quiet, almost too quiet, you might say. Yeah, that'll change at some point. And there's so much focus on the arms and the pitching and the bullpen, yet Bo Bichette's off to a great start. Him and S hitting cleanups off to a really good start. Do you think that that's going to stick for the short term, long term? Is this the kind of top of the lineup that we should be expecting for the next little while?

Oh I think yes he looks incredible guys like he was their best-looking player all camp from the day I got down to Dunedin February 10th like he has looked incredible and that's carried right over. Jimenez has surprised me listen I did not expect to be covering a 161 pound DH. Those people usually look a little more like me in the in the cleanup spot. Sorry, cleanup roll. Jimenez in that spot has been pretty shocking and it has worked. If you're gonna do something bold like that it better work out a gold glove, platinum glove, second baseman, typically known for contact and speed. It's working and their idea there

is that if Santander drives in a couple You have Jimenez there to kind of be a second leadoff man have Kirk coming behind them etc. That could look a bit different I love the top three of this lineup the middle three Interesting enough. They need something from the bottom three that needs to be Rodin or Schneider or somebody they need supplemental offense That's gonna be the difference between this team being average and making a legitimate postseason run but I like that top three and I think Bo is gonna have a monster year and I think real soon more people are gonna be talking about both and Blatty honestly I think that's gonna completely take over. That's pretty cool I mean on

in other news are you pretty fired up about the White Sox being two and two over the weekend I mean where where you can see in the heart again they're hot right now I'm not gonna get to get to get to get to 50 wins 60 wins where they at do not let the Chicago White Sox get hot you know it's look out for them how many players can I name on the Chicago White Sox not many but maybe that's the beauty of it. Maybe they figured out the new Moneyball fellows and it's the White Sox. That's a tough looking roster, tough looking season probably. If they make the playoffs, hopefully I don't have to go to that end

of Chicago. I prefer to stay on the Cubbies side, but man oh man, this might be their peak here, March 31. Yes. It might be a little downhill. Red hot March, man. But savor it. There are dozens of fans can savor this moment while they can. Absolutely. Enjoy it tonight, Keegan. Jay's Nationals, we'll do it again soon.

Thank you for this. You got it, fellas. Take care. Keegan Matheson joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Drive the built-in Canada fuel-efficient, fun-to-drive Toyota RAV4, gas or hybrid models available. Visit mapletoyota.com. Hey, who invited climate action to the party?

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