The optics surrounding Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer throwing roughly 95 pitches in a simulated game/bullpen session last week suggested that a playoff start for the future first ballot Hall of Famer was probable.
Chris Bassitt, who also threw a simulated game around the same time, threw just 45 pitches. That frame would relegate Bassitt to long relief and mop-up duties out of the bullpen. Given that Bassitt is a highly competent MLB veteran starting pitcher, the decision to first leave him off the Divisional Series roster, and then have him penciled in for low-leverage situations out of the ‘pen must have stung a bit. Granted, he was placed on the IL with lower back inflammation towards the end of the season, making the decision to rest the Jays’ perennial number two starter a bit easier on everyone.
As for Bassitt’s role in relief? His performance in the seventh and into the eighth inning of Toronto’s otherwise embarrassing 10-3 loss to Seattle in game two of the ALCS was one of the few highlights for the Jays. Bassitt was brilliant, retiring the top through to the middle of the Mariners’ batting order in succession. On a day when the Mariners’ bats were pounding the Jays’ pitching, Bassitt calmed the storm by striking out Randy Arozarena and Julio Rodriguez, while getting American League MVP candidate Cal Raleigh to pop out weakly to the infield.
Despite the loss, the plan worked. Bassitt pitched at home, where he is typically dominant, and issued a shut-down, clean inning. Now the Blue Jays shift to the next chapter of their altered playoff pitching staff. That is to give Max Scherzer the ball in a crucial game four scenario.
The plan, from a fan’s perspective, would be to ask for five quality innings from the formerly dominant right-hander. If Scherzer can take a page from Bassitt’s book and pitch to the perimeter of the strike zone, then the Blue Jays will have a great opportunity to even the series and potentially return to Toronto, one win away from the World Series.
This situation, with all of its hype, is, of course, nothing new to Max Scherzer. In 2019, during a grueling, nail-biter of a World Series against the Houston Astros, Scherzer was given the ball for a decisive game seven against Zack Greinke – another great pitcher who will soon garner HOF consideration. Scherzer wasn’t spectacular, but he kept his team in the game, allowing two runs over five innings of work. That would prove to be the only two runs that Houston would score, as Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon, and Juan Soto went to work, racking up six runs, putting constant pressure on Houston’s depleted bullpen.
Scherzer earned the win and his first World Series Championship. He was relieved by Patrick Corbin, and then Daniel Hudson sealed the deal in the ninth. Tonight, Scherzer and the Toronto Blue Jays can earn a win and even this series at two games apiece if they follow a similar game plan to the one that worked in game seven of 2019. Scherzer for five, then Bassitt or Lauer, with Jeff Hoffman closing the game, in what the Jays hope will be a low-leverage situation where a sizeable lead is held.
Look, the 2025 version of Max Scherzer is probably much different from his earlier years in Detroit and Washington, in terms of stuff. The reality, though, is that the metrics from 2019 to now show only a marginal decline in velocity. In that game seven of 2019, everyone was depleted and exhausted. Now, in game four of the ALCS at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Max Scherzer takes the ball after weeks of rest and preparation. He may not be dominant, but he can give the Jays five innings of work, and that should be enough for the win.
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