Blue Jays' Max Scherzer: Thumb responds well to start

Scherzer's thumb responded well to Saturday's 62-pitch start against the Twins in the Grapefruit League, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports. Scherzer went four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out four.

The future Hall of Famer looks to be in the clear for the start of the regular season after a right thumb injury brought his availability into question earlier in the week. He will likely slot in as the No. 3 starter in Toronto behind Jose Berrios and Kevin Gausman to begin 2025, putting him on track for a home start against the Orioles on Saturday in his team debut. Scherzer figures to have some minor workload restrictions early on given where he is with his pitch count, plus the fact he begins to have issues gripping the ball with his thumb after reaching 50 pitches or so.