Inside Max Scherzer’s epic Blue Jays post-season debut

SEATTLE — Once Max Scherzer’s outing was over on Thursday night, teammate Shane Bieber approached him in the Toronto Blue Jays’ dugout. 

“Thank you,” Bieber said to Scherzer. 

“For what?” Scherzer replied.

“Dude, that was sick to watch,” answered Bieber. “That was really cool.” 

Bieber was in Grade 8 when Scherzer debuted in the majors in 2008 and spent many nights during his teenage years and beyond watching Scherzer build his Hall-of-Fame resume. 

The 41-year-old right-hander added another bullet point to that CV with his work in Thursday’s 8-2 win over the Seattle Mariners that knotted the American League Championship Series at two games apiece. 

The theatrics, the snarls, the crazy looks and the now-infamous mound visit all contributed to a Game 4 performance that will be talked about for years. It’s an instant classic in franchise history and in the hours that followed, seemingly everybody in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse was eager to discuss what they had just witnessed. 

“That’s the tale of Max Scherzer,” said Bieber. “And I’m just honestly grateful that I was able to experience it first-hand.”

Here’s an inside look at what those on the field observed on Thursday night at T-Mobile Park, told through their own words.

Scherzer struggled early on, walking two batters in the first inning and surrendering a solo shot to Josh Naylor in the second frame. After that, though, the right-hander settled down and began to take on his vintage form.

PETE WALKER, pitching coach: During our pitcher-catcher meeting, you could tell he’s locked in and then, in the bullpen, probably as good stuff as I’ve seen all year from him. So, I knew he was feeling great. The fastball was coming out, breaking stuff was sharp, he was getting after it, and you can see the look in his eyes — I knew he was on his game. 

JOHN SCHNEIDER, manager: I thought he actually got better as the game went on, to be honest with you. And the changeup to Naylor, he had really good stuff, and I think it was just almost too hard of a changeup.

CHRIS BASSITT, pitcher: You obviously don’t have a good inning early. How do you respond to that? I’d say that’s my favourite part. You get punched by a really good team, and then you don’t really get fazed by it. 

WALKER: This was big for a lot of reasons for him. He wanted this one really bad. Throughout the game, inning by inning, we always communicate. He over-communicates during the course of the game. We always talk about hitters and talk about how he’s doing, how he’s feeling. He was just as locked in as I’ve ever seen him in the short time that we’ve been together. 

ERNIE CLEMENT, third baseman: I never saw him in the dugout. We stay far away from him. He’s terrifying during the game so let him do his thing.  

ISIAH KINER-FALEFA, second baseman: I’m always nervous around Max when he’s pitching. I was told not to touch him, not to talk to him. 

DAULTON VARSHO, centre-fielder: It’s like he’s on a mission. He doesn’t want high fives in the dugout. 

The Blue Jays were up 5-1 in the fifth inning and with two outs and the top of the Seattle order due up, Schneider jogged out to the mound to talk with Scherzer. The visit lasted mere seconds as the fired-up right-hander screamed at the manager, letting Schneider know he wanted to finish the inning.

SCHNEIDER: I thought he was going to kill me. It was great. 

MAX SCHERZER, starter: I was going through it in my head. I understood where the game state was, knew how I wanted to attack, and then, all of a sudden, I saw Schneids coming out and I kind of went, ‘Woah, Woah, Woah. Like, I’m not coming out of this ball game. I feel too good.’

SCHNEIDER: He locked eyes with me, both colours, as I walked out. It’s not fake. That’s the thing. He has this Mad Max persona, but he backed it up tonight. The infielders had a good laugh, too, out there. 

CLEMENT: I was kind of late to the party and I just laughed. I walked up, turned right around and back to my position.  

ANDRES GIMENEZ, shortstop: If you watch the video, I was not even close to the mound. I saw Max’s reaction and I was like, ‘I better stay here.’

BASSITT: Same old Max. Crazy. 

SCHERZER: We had a little conversation that, basically, I wanted to stay in the ball game but just with some other words involved. I just knew I was strong, I knew I wanted the ball, I knew I could get outs in this situation. I just wanted to stay in. I wanted it.

SCHNEIDER: The conversation started with, ‘I’m good.’ And I said, ‘Are you sure?’ You can probably read lips, but I told him to execute. ‘I’m leaving you in to execute,’ and he did.

SHANE BIEBER, pitcher: He bowed up on him pretty good when Schneids got out there. I had a feeling that he was not going to come out of the game.

JEFF HOFFMAN, closer: Usually Schneids points pretty early, and when he didn’t point early, I was like, ‘Oh, he’s giving Max the chance to fight for himself,’ and I love that. You do that with guys who have earned that and he’s obviously earned everything he’s gotten in this game. I’m glad they stuck with him.

ERIC LAUER, pitcher: It’s just Max to a tee. I mean, he’s not coming out of the game until he’s ready to come out of the game and he’s never ready to come out of the game. He’s just a dog like that.

CLEMENT: I’ve been kind of waiting all year because you see it on TV. I’ve seen it for the last 15 years of him pitching, where the manager comes out and he refuses to get off the mound.

JOEY LOPERFIDO, outfielder: It didn’t come as a surprise to anybody. The growling, I mean, he was pretty much foaming at the mouth out there. 

SCHNEIDER: I’ve been waiting for that all year for Max to yell at me on the mound. I think at that point there’s numbers, there’s projections, there’s strategy, and there’s people. So, I was trusting people. I think in that moment, you kind of relive every conversation I’ve had with him over the course of the year, and I trusted him to make pitches. 

WALKER: The competitive fire that he shows in those moments is something that we really haven’t seen. It was our first glimpse at it, so to speak. I don’t think it was unexpected. We kind of knew what was going to happen. And to be honest with you, it was good to see. It just shows you where he is and what he still has in the tank to contribute for the rest of this post-season.

SCHNEIDER: I was joking with him: I’ve been waiting for that moment since our Zoom call in the off-season before we signed him. Loved it.

Scherzer proceeded to strike out Randy Arozarena on four pitches after the eventful mound visit. He stormed off the mound with a level of intensity that was simply different than anything he’s shown in a Blue Jays’ uniform. Scherzer then came back out for the sixth inning and got Cal Raleigh to fly out to right field before punching out Julio Rodriguez. The right-hander issued a walk to his final batter, Jorge Polanco, and was replaced by reliever Mason Fluharty, who allowed the inherited runner to score. Scherzer’s final line was two runs allowed on three hits over 5.2 innings, with four walks and five strikeouts.  

BIEBER: My favourite thing was that he actually did it. Telling Schneids whatever he told Schneids. And then to do it on four pitches and punch Randy out. And to come back in the dugout and still not be done. That was special. 

WALKER: Tonight was one of those games that he knew we needed him to step up and he did. 

BASSITT: It’s the most important one he’s ever won with me. So, it’s got to be number one [among Scherzer starts I’ve seen]. Obviously, pretty much must-win today. And for him to go out there and do what he did was special. 

LAUER: I grew up watching the guy and now I’m on the same team as him, watching him do the same thing that I’ve watched him all these years do. It’s a really cool baseball moment to see the guy that you’ve seen all these years have all this success. He’s a legend of the game and then, all of a sudden, he’s doing it on the same team as me, and he’s doing it for the team I’m on. It’s just so cool.

BIEBER: Obviously, I’m more of a fan than I’ve ever been of him, having gotten to know him. There were questions going into the start: How long he’s going to last, how well he’s going to do. And for him to deliver like he did today, in hindsight, we’re like nobody’s surprised because it’s Max Friggin’ Scherzer.