Blue Jays’ Max Scherzer pulled from Saturday’s start due to right lat soreness

Scherzer was expected to throw 80 pitches because of his thumb, but only reached 45, throwing 28 strikes with three whiffs and maxing out at 93.4 mph while averaging 91.9 mph on his fastball.

Simply put, this isn’t a good sign. Scherzer was brought in to be a veteran presence for the backend of the rotation. He had a good Spring Training showing when healthy, but the thumb injury plagued him for most of the month of March. It’s unclear if the lat soreness has anything to do with the thumb.

In typical Blue Jays fashion, the Blue Jays coughed up their 4-2 lead immediately after Scherzer left, with Richard Lovelady giving up four earned runs in an inning and Jacob Barnes giving up two earned runs in an inning and two-thirds. Boy, it would’ve been nice had the Blue Jays selected the contract of Ryan Yarbrough.

The Blue Jays don’t have a ton of starting pitching depth. You’d have to imagine that Yariel Rodríguez would fill Scherzer’s spot in the rotation if he’s set to miss anytime. In the minor leagues, Jake Bloss is on the 40-man roster, but he isn’t quite ready for the big leagues. Other options include Andrew Bash, Lazaro Estrada, Eric Lauer, and Easton Lucas.

All of this is to say that the Blue Jays are in pretty rough shape if Scherzer can’t stay healthy. Hopefully, they can get whatever is plaguing him sorted out sooner rather than later, because when he’s on, he’ll be an effective player for the Jays.