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By Jackson Roberts
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Toronto Blue Jays' most decorated starting pitcher may be blowing his opportunity to take the ball in a playoff game.
Max Scherzer, the three-time Cy Young Award winner and former World Series champion, got lit up on Friday night by the Kansas City Royals. He surrendered seven hits and seven earned runs in the bottom of the first before getting yanked with just two outs recorded.
The 41-year-old Scherzer has a 9.45 ERA in his last seven starts, ballooning his season mark to 5.06. And with fierce competition for the three, perhaps four, spots in the Blue Jays' playoff rotation, Scherzer knows his chances to nab one of those initial starts are waning.
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After the Royals' eventual 20-1 win, Scherzer was as honest as could be, laying his struggles bare and accepting that the usually light-hitting Royals lineup outclassed him.
"Everything that could go wrong went wrong. I took a haymaker to the face," Scherzer said, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. "I made some pitches and they got hits on them. Nothing you can do in those situations. I just got beat in all facets of the game."
Shane Bieber and Kevin Gausman are near-locks for playoff starts, and rookie top prospect Trey Yesavage could force the Blue Jays' hand to give him an opportunity if he is as dominant in his next two starts as he was in his Monday major league debut.
Even if Yesavage doesn't get an opportunity, Scherzer could be battling with fellow veteran Chris Bassitt, who has thrown the ball much better than he has lately.
But as badly as he surely wants the ball in October, Scherzer is keeping a positive mindset about his next opportunity.
"You're never as good as you think you are and you're never as bad as you think you are," Scherzer said, per Matheson. "This start doesn't make me think that all of the sudden I'm the worst pitcher in the world. No. Things happen. I've got to turn the page and move on."
Scherzer is listed as the Blue Jays' probable starter for Friday's game against the Boston Red Sox, which should be his last chance to plead his case for a playoff start.
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