Mets ace Max Scherzer has back soreness, next start pushed back
Mets starting pitcher Max Scherzer (21) leaves the game in the during the fifth inning against the San Diego Padres at Citi Field, Monday, April 10, 2023. Credit: Noah K. Murray
OAKLAND, Calif. — Max Scherzer is dealing with “lingering soreness” in his back, so the Mets decided to delay his next start until “probably” Wednesday, when he would face the Dodgers, manager Buck Showalter said.
Rookie righthander Jose Butto will get the ball in Scherzer’s place Sunday against the Athletics.
A recent MRI showed “nothing there,” according to Showalter.
“I know exactly what this is. It just needs a little time,” Scherzer said. “I’ve just been dealing with this on turn [through the rotation]. Usually when you have something, it clears up after a couple of days. It cleared up. I was able to throw a 30-pitch bullpen [session Friday]. I’m trending in the right direction, it’s just not fully gone, so why even introduce risk if we know we have an open spot? Then it’s selfish for me to try to pitch through this, around this, when you have that on the table.”
Showalter said: “He can pitch [Sunday], but we don’t need to, don’t have to.”
Scherzer compared this issue to a back problem he encountered in 2019. That July, he missed about two weeks with what the Nationals called a mid-back strain, returned for one start, then missed another four weeks with a strain of his rhomboid, a group of muscles in the back.
Part of the rationale in this instance, according to those involved, was that the Mets planned to slot in a sixth starter Wednesday for the sake of extra rest for the other pitchers. With Scherzer ailing, they’ll do so Sunday instead.
“We had a hole in the rotation anyway. I had to feel really good today in order to not use it,” Scherzer said. “It’s lingering a little bit, put me on Wednesday, we have to use somebody else in the spot anyway. That’s the calculus.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
