Max Scherzer (Texas Rangers) is out for the rest of the season after being pulled from a start against Hyun-jin Ryu (Toronto Blue Jays). Even if his team makes the postseason, there’s no guarantee he’ll return.
Texas general manager Chris Young announced in a briefing on Thursday that Scherzer will miss the rest of the regular season 메이저놀이터 with an oblique strain in his right arm. He also called his chances of making a postseason appearance “unlikely.” He added that the team does not believe the injury requires surgery and will continue to monitor Schuerzer’s status.
“I have some bad news,” Young said in the briefing. “I feel bad for him, but it’s something he didn’t want to happen (being out for the season). He’s a very competitive player, and he pitched well last night, and it happened. We’re not happy to see him in this situation,” said Scherzer.
“But the most important thing is that our team has overcome things like this all season long. We’ve lost five of our six All-Stars to injury, and now we’ve lost a future Hall of Fame pitcher. But we’re in a position to make a run at the postseason. I’m proud of this Texas team. I didn’t think it would change this quickly.”
Scherzer started Ryu’s game against Toronto on Dec. 13 and pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings with one hit, one walk and two strikeouts until the top of the sixth. The change came abruptly. After retiring the inning’s leadoff hitter, George Springer, on a fielder’s choice, he felt ill before facing the next batter, Bo Bichette. Pitching coach Mike Maddux and then manager Bruce Bochy came to the mound.
It wasn’t good. After two practice pitches, Scherzer stopped swinging his arm. He realized he couldn’t throw anymore. In a post-game interview, he said, “It must have been something to do with the kinetic chain (the process of force transmission, the interaction of joints and muscles and other parts of the body). My biceps were pulling, which put more load on my triceps. All of a sudden, it happened and there was nothing I could do about it.”
Scherzer signed a free agent contract with the New York Mets last year, but was traded to Texas at the trade deadline this year. With their chances of making the postseason slim, the Mets reorganized their spending structure by releasing Scherzer and Justin Verlander (Houston) to look ahead to next year and beyond. Scherzer went 9-4 with a 4.01 ERA in 19 games for the Mets, but fared better with Texas, going 4-2 with a 3.20 ERA in eight games, but was dealt at the end of the season when the postseason race was heating up.
Texas has four starting pitchers remaining in Nathan Eovaldi, Jordan Montgomery, Jon Gray and Dane Dunning. MLB.com reports that Texas will likely turn to Martin Perez or Andrew Hiniro Scherzer to fill out the fastball rotation.
“I’m confident in the pitchers we have and their ability to go innings,” Young said. Heaney, Perez, and Cody Bradford all had successful seasons at different points in their careers. They’ve all been great additions to our team. I’m not sure who will be in the rotation. We’re not ready to think about that yet.”