NEW YORK — Somebody gave Max Scherzer bad advice. He doesn’t remember who sent him down the wrong path ahead of his first career postseason start, which came at a raucous Yankee Stadium. But he recalls the misleading words.
“You’re gonna be so amped up,” Scherzer recalled being told. “Make sure you come out calm. Try to be as calm as possible.”
The message came days before Scherzer entered the belly of the beast in the Bronx, for his first playoff outing with the Detroit Tigers. He was four years into his big-league career, yet to build a lengthy October resume with two titles and 15 playoff wins. It came long before his 18th season, when he will arrive at the Bronx ballpark on Tuesday alongside his Toronto Blue Jays teammates, looking to close out this American League Division Series.
He won’t be telling them to calm down. That’s not how Scherzer survived The Bronx.
“Pitching in the playoffs, just be who you are,” Scherzer said. “Are you a high adrenaline guy? Good. Use adrenaline. Are you an ice water guy? Good, do that.”
Scherzer isn’t on the Jays’ roster for this round. He played no part in two stompings in Toronto and won’t pitch in the New York leg of the series. He’s now a well-worn veteran throwing bullpens to stay hot, if needed in the future. But in the meantime he’s taken on another role, bouncing up and down in Toronto’s dugout, dissecting the first two playoff games as a spectator, tasked with passing advice to playoff rookies and greener teammates.
The advice in this case is rooted in lived experience.
Just 19 pitches into his October debut, Scherzer figured out the wise words were actually rotten. It was peaceful and warm during Game 2 of the 2011 ALDS, but the Yankees’ lineup was scary, a constantly brewing storm. Preparing for the outing, Scherzer’s catcher Alex Avila said, was no fun.
“It seemed like every one of their guys had 40 homers,” Avila said.
When the fresh-faced, short-haired Scherzer followed walks to Robinson Canó and Alex Rodriguez with two balls to Mark Teixeira, Avila jogged out to the mound. Tigers pitching coach Jeff Jones joined. Scherzer spat to the side, staring at his shoes during the mound visit. Why was he trying to calm himself down? It clearly wasn’t working.
“I don’t pitch throttled down,” Scherzer said. “I’m not a throttle down guy. I throttle up. I pitch with my hair on fire.”
Scherzer pitching in the ALDS at Yankee Stadium in 2011. (Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)
On that fall day in New York, Scherzer needed to feed off the adrenaline of the moment. October, Game 2, a roaring New York crowd praying for his downfall. He’s the guy with a banging boombox blasting the Top Gun soundtrack during his between-start bullpens. He prepares for every start, shouting names during side sessions of his future opponents. It’s hair on fire, all the time. That’s what he needed in New York.
Scherzer stomped around the mound after the first inning mound visit. He pursed his lips, fumbling the ball in his fingers as he amped himself back up. Two pitches later, he fired a fastball to earn a needed fly ball. He marched off the mound with a swinging-arm swagger and didn’t look back.
He faced the minimum through the next three innings. After striking out Canó and Teixeira in the fourth inning, Avila knew the game was over. Scherzer’s fire was back. “We had the game,” Avila said. Scherzer finished with six shutout innings in a 5-3 Detroit win.
That start formed the advice Scherzer now passes along. He wouldn’t talk about the playoffs all season, until the Jays finally entered October. But now the Jays are there. He’s not pitching this series, but he remains a resource — an assistant pitching coach, manager John Schneider said. When the Jays enter Yankee Stadium’s hostile crowd, Scherzer won’t tell his teammates to calm down. He won’t tell them to fire up, either. Do what works for you.
“I’m not trying to say I’ve figured everything out,” Scherzer said. “But you can get bad advice from teammates.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sidesteps Yankees talk
Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. previously said he’d never play for the Yankees, “not even dead.” He said New York was the easiest team to play against, too. But not now. Not during prime bulletin-board material season.
“My emotions are neutral right now,” Guerrero said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “It’s not time to celebrate.”
The Jays’ slugger stuck to a script he’s used all year long. During two regular season trips to Yankee Stadium, Guerrero fielded different versions of the same question: “Why do you crush the New York Yankees?” He was asked after he doubled in a run in April and again after his four-hit day in September.
The questions got louder after Guerrero homered twice, notched six hits and drove in six runs in the first two games of the Division Series. The queries became more blunt: “Is there a little extra boost to do it against the Yankees?”
Each time, Guerrero swiftly sidestepped.
Playing the Yankees is the same as it would be against any other team, Guerrero said during Monday’s off day. He doesn’t know why he hits so well at Yankee Stadium (career 1.002 OPS) either. Ahead of Game 3, with the Jays a win away from the American League Championship Series, Guerrero stayed measured and calm. He’s resolved to let his swings do the talking.
“It’s not over,” Guerrero said. “There’s a lot of work to do still.”
Bo Bichette not in Bronx; José Berríos still shut down
Bo Bichette did not travel with the Jays to New York. He stayed behind in Toronto “still progressing” from his knee sprain he suffered on Sept. 6, Schneider said. There is “no glaring update,” according to the manager, suggesting the shortstop has still not begun running or hitting live velocity.
The ALCS, if the Jays were to advance, begins on Sunday. That gives Bichette six more days to move from progressing to progressed.
José Berríos, who was shut down in the final week of the season with elbow inflammation, remains shut down from throwing, Schneider said. While the Jays didn’t rule out a Berríos return at some point this season, it’s difficult to see him returning and leapfrogging Toronto’s current rotation options, including those already off the DS roster like Scherzer and Chris Bassitt.
