If that was the end for Max Scherzer, he went out exactly how you’d expect.
The 42-year-old three-time Cy Young winner emptied the tank in what could have been the final start of his Hall of Fame career Sunday, throwing 114 pitches over seven innings in the Toronto Blue Jays’ 5-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
And he did it on just three days’ rest.
The eight-time All-Star allowed just one earned run on six hits, walked one and struck out seven in his final appearance of the 2026 season.
“That was amazing,” Scherzer told reporters postgame. “The adrenaline starts kicking in, the fans start getting in, and that’s when I could start feeding off of the crowd here at the Rogers Centre. I really could just reach back and just felt like I was unlimited.”
The game also prompted one memorable scene for the final chapter of Scherzer’s career.
While already at over 100 pitches on the afternoon, Blue Jays manager John Schneider walked toward the mound as if he were finally coming to take the ball.
Scherzer quickly turned him away, which popped the audience at the Rogers Centre.
Schneider instead turned around as the former ace powered through the rest of inning.
“If that doesn’t sum up Max Scherzer, I don’t know what does,” Schneider said afterward.
Classic Mad Max.
He finished the inning and walked off the mound to a standing ovation, tipping his cap as teammates waited for him outside the dugout.
It looked like a farewell, and it might have been, though nothing is yet official.
Scherzer has not announced his retirement and said Saturday that he will wait until the offseason before deciding whether to return for a 20th major-league campaign.
“I’ve talked to everybody in my inner circle, and we all kind of feel the same way,” Scherzer said. “We don’t need to make a decision today. Get to the offseason and just see how things unfold.”
He also noted MLB’s forthcoming contentious labor negotiations between the league and the Players’ Association, which has left many predicting a lockout at least to begin the 2027 season.
“We’ve also got a lot of uncertainty next year with all the labor issues,” Scherzer said, “so you just don’t know how the season’s going to happen or unfold, or what opportunity is going to be in front of me.”
Scherzer’s seven strikeouts brought him to 3,557 on his career, ninth-most in MLB history and three behind longtime teammate Justin Verlander, who made the final start of his own career Saturday.
The game Sunday marked Scherzer’s 501st appearance and 492nd start.
He ended the 2026 season with a 5.74 ERA and a 4-9 record on the year.
