Max Scherzer's frightening description of thumb injury is tough look for the Blue Jays

While the Toronto Blue Jays drew a lot of criticism for their mostly underwhelming offseason, signing Max Scherzer to a one-year deal was not a move Ross Atkins deserved to be ridiculed for. Sure, he's 40 years old and has dealt with injuries in recent years, but he was signed to be a mid-rotation arm at best in Toronto. Even if he isn't the Cy Young-caliber arm he once was, Scherzer seemed like a capable arm to plug into the middle of this rotation.

Unfortunately, the Scherzer experience hasn't gotten off to the best start for Toronto. The right-hander was dealing with a thumb injury in spring training, and was pulled after just three innings of his Blue Jays debut due to what the team described as right lat soreness.

As if a lat injury wasn't scary enough, Scherzer wound up revealing after the game that the injury ties back to the thumb ailment. Scherzer was overcompensating due to the thumb, and wound up pitching until he felt there was "imminent danger."

Blue Jays fans had hoped that the thumb issue was behind Scherzer given the fact that he took the ball for Saturday's contest, but clearly, that was not the case. Now, unsurprisingly, that thumb ailment will result in him making a trip to the Injured List.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.

Max Scherzer's description of thumb injury is the last thing Blue Jays fans wanted to hear

Scherzer suffering another injury after dealing with the thumb issue would've been annoying, but something for Jays fans to quickly get over. Scherzer nearly suffering a lat injury because of the thumb is tough for Jays fans to hear, though. It's fortunate that he caught the injury before it got severe, but Scherzer feeling as if he was in "intimate danger" is a tough look.

At this point, it's tough to expect much from Scherzer anytime soon, if at all. Again, he's 40 years old, and has been dealing with a slew of injuries in recent years. Last season, he was limited to just nine starts and 43.1 innings of work for the Texas Rangers. He had three separate IL stints in the two seasons prior.

Scherzer says he needs to get this to 100 percent before he pitches again. How long that'll take remains to be seen. Blue Jays fans hope it's soon, given the team's lack of starting pitching depth, but with how he has described his thumb issue and with a visit to a hand specialist looming, who knows how long it'll be.