The Toronto Blue Jays placed Max Scherzer on the 15-day injured list on Monday afternoon, sidelining the 41-year-old right-hander with right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation. Scherzer had been listed as Toronto's probable starter for Wednesday's game before the move, and the club said Chase Lee was recalled from Triple-A and was active Monday night.
The transaction was posted on the team's official account: "ROSTER MOVES: RHP Max Scherzer placed on 15-day IL (right forearm tendinitis, left ankle inflammation) RHP Chase Lee recalled from Triple-A and will be active tonight," a short notice that immediately altered a rotation plan built during the offseason when Scherzer re-signed with the Blue Jays.
Numbers underline why the decision matters. Scherzer is a three Cy Young Award winner who recorded at least 23 starts and 145 1/3 innings every season from 2009 to 2023 except the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. But his workload has been interrupted in recent years: he was limited to nine starts and 43 1/3 innings with the Texas Rangers in 2024, made 17 starts for 85 innings with Toronto last season, and this year was 1-3 with a 9.64 ERA across 18 2/3 innings in five starts.
The timing complicates a three-game series that opened Monday night between Toronto and the Boston Red Sox north of the border. Boston had scheduled left-hander Ranger Suarez to face Toronto righty Dylan Cease on Monday, with Red Sox rookie Payton Tolle slated to face Blue Jays star Trey Yesavage on Tuesday and Brayan Bello listed as Boston's probable starter for Wednesday. With Scherzer removed from the probability list, Toronto's Wednesday starter is now to be determined.
Scherzer also carries a personal milestone into the pause: he is one strikeout away from 3,500 career strikeouts, a mark reached by only 10 players in MLB history. That chase — prominent for long-time followers — now faces a delay while the Blue Jays manage his forearm and ankle inflammation and protect the veteran's availability down the road.
The move exposes friction between Scherzer's long track record of durability and the reality of recent seasons. From 2009 to 2023 he was a model of consistency; since 2023, however, he has missed significant time and produced limited innings, and his rough start to 2026 — a 9.64 ERA in five starts — made the team decision sharper. The Blue Jays must now balance short-term needs in a tight early-season schedule with the risk of aggravating a veteran who has carried the rotation for more than a decade.
For now, Chase Lee's recall gives Toronto an immediate arm for the series opener and some breathing room in roster planning. The more consequential question is whether Scherzer's placement on the 15-day IL will stall the pursuit of that 3,500th strikeout and how long the Blue Jays will need to reshuffle starts later this week. Fans tracking the milestone and managers mapping out matchups will watch the club's next moves closely.
El-Balad's coverage of the game thread began as the teams met Monday; readers wanting in-game updates can follow our Red Sox Vs Blue Jays: Game #28 Thread as Blue Jays Lose Max Scherzer. Our site also carries context on related cultural and tech stories, from Mad Max: Fury Road's place on recent lists to the tech notes on the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
