The Toronto Blue Jays have placed veteran right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer on the 15-day injured list with right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation, the team announced Monday.
The move is retroactive to Saturday.
Scherzer’s assignment to the IL comes after a rough start on Friday, when he allowed seven earned runs on six hits over 2 1/3 innings in an 8-6 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.
The 41-year-old three-time Cy Young Award winner is 1-3 with a 9.64 earned-run average over five starts this season.
In a corresponding move, right-handed pitcher Chase Lee was recalled from triple-A Buffalo and made active for Toronto’s game Monday night against the visiting Boston Red Sox.
Lee has a 1.32 ERA and two saves over 13 2/3 innings of relief in nine appearances with the Bisons this season.
Scherzer, who started Game 7 of last year’s World Series, remained with the Blue Jays by agreeing to a one-year contract worth $3 million US that allows him to earn $10 million in performance bonuses for innings starting with 65.
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Friday was the third time this season Scherzer failed to complete three innings.
He left an April 6 start against the Los Angeles Dodgers because of forearm pain, then allowed eight runs and five hits in 2 1/3 innings in an April 12 defeat to Minnesota.
An eight-time all-star, Scherzer went 5-5 with a 5.19 ERA in 17 starts and 85 innings for the Blue Jays last season. He made three starts in the post-season, beating Seattle 8-2 in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series and making two starts in the World Series against the Dodgers.
Scherzer won titles with Washington in 2019 and Texas in 2023. He ranks 11th on the strikeouts list with 3,499, 10 behind Hall of Famer Walter Johnson.
