Max Scherzer is a baseball legend, but his 2026 season has been awful. The Toronto Blue Jays brought the 41-year-old pitcher back this winter. They hoped his experience would help them win their first World Series since 1993. Instead, his ERA is a terrible 10.23. He just came back from an injury on Wednesday against the Philadelphia Phillies. Sadly, things only got worse.

Scherzer pitched for just 3.1 innings. He gave up five runs, two home runs, and three walks. The Jays lost the game 7-4, and their season record dropped to 33-36. Even with the bad loss, manager John Schneider defended the veteran.

“You want to try to see what it looks like when he gets some consistent work and evaluate it then. I think he’s earned that,” Keegan Matheson quoted Schneider. He added that he does not want to make sudden, rushed decisions.

Considering Scherzer’s credibility as one of the oldest active veterans on the mound, it is expected that the Blue Jays manager would take a defensive route in dealing with the 3x Cy Young winner. Scherzer became the 11th pitcher in MLB history to record 3,500 strikeouts on Wednesday. So, the Jays might be going slow with him.

Also, Schneider had a hard experience facing off against Scherzer in the 2025 ALCS Game 4 against the Seattle Mariners. As Schneider visited the mound to pull out Scherzer in the fifth, the veteran lived up to his “Mad Max” persona and yelled at his manager.

Scherzer ultimately pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing only two runs and striking out five, leaving the game to a standing ovation and in line for the win.

“I thought he was going to kill me. It was great. He locked eyes with me, both colors, and backed it up,” Schneider said after the game.

So, it’s always risky to give up on Scherzer too early. The reason why Schneider wants to avoid “knee-jerk reactions” against Scherzer is despite the rough start on Wednesday.

But making history does not win games today. The Blue Jays are fighting hard just to stay in the playoff race. Because Scherzer left the game so early on Wednesday, the team had to use six different relief pitchers to finish the night.

This is also not the first time that Scherzer struggled this year. On April 24, he surrendered seven runs on six hits, including three home runs against the Guardians. In another game on April 12, he allowed eight runs off two homers in 2.1 innings. So, fans have had enough and take to social media, demanding that Schneider make some uneasy decisions.

The Blue Jays fans are left unimpressed with John Schneider

Fans are openly asking why Schneider keeps starting Scherzer when the team desperately needs to win games.

“The team is sinking. This is no time for tryouts,” one fan said. “They’re not in a position from a standings standpoint to wait and see,” another added.

The Blue Jays are currently seven games behind the table-topper, the Tampa Bay Rays, and ranked 5th in the AL Wild Card race. The A’s in 4th place have the same number of wins as the Jays. Thus, to survive in such a tight scene, it’s time for John Schneider to stop experimenting. Hopefully, Scherzer will come back to his best soon, but by then, the Jays may slip far from the Wild Card race.

“Max is past his prime…use as a reliever,” one user remarked. “He’s been batting practice this whole season,” another agreed.

Scherzer has made only nine regular-season relief appearances in his 19-year MLB career, tallying a 0.87 ERA. However, his 1-4 record this year has shown how batters have loved hitting him. He has pitched 22 innings so far this year and allowed 9 HRs, which sums up his struggle. But John Schneider needs a bit more time to decide on Scherzer. Fans don’t approve, though.

“I’m happy he got his milestone strikeout. Max deserves that, incredible career. But 2026 Max Scherzer is a shell of himself. He’s a Hall of Famer, but it’s over. Time to grab the gun and put the horse out of its misery. Not only best for him, but the team this year if they wanna win,” one fan concluded on the veteran.

Scherzer is an eight-time All-Star and a two-time World Series champion. He holds the MLB record for the most strikeouts in a nine-inning game with 20. He is also the first player to ever pitch in the World Series for four different teams. However, his current stats are awful. He has allowed nine home runs in just 22 innings and holds a terrible 10.23 ERA. These numbers show that his legendary career might have finally run out of time.

According to Schneider, Scherzer still finds himself physically fit.

“I felt like I was able to pitch. Good fastballs, good changeups, good curveballs, good sliders,” Schneider quoted Scherzer.

However, it is expected that he couldn’t deliver something that Tarik Skubal or Paul Skenes could do. However, for the Jays, till the time Jose Berrios, Cody Ponce, and Shane Bieber come back from the IL, it will be difficult to let Scherzer go.

An aggressive trade deadline could work wonders.