C’s Sell Out – Rehab For Max

For many, the Nick-Name Mad Max could be conscrewed as a fictional cartoon character in an action movie but for those who attended the Vancouver Canadian’s game at Scotia Bank Field you saw the real deal.

He (Max) was born July 27th, 1984 and is a RHP pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jay  and previously pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and Texas Rangers. 

So as you can tell he’s been around the bases a couple of times and is a right-handed being named eight-times to the MLB All-Star, has won three Cy Young Awards, has pitched two no-hitters, and a two-time World Series champion with the Nationals in 2019 and 2023 with the Rangers.

Born and growing up in the suburb of St. Louis with parents Jan (Shirck) and Brad Scherzer he was a strong supporter of the St. Louis Cardinals playing baseball, football, and basketball while attending Parkway Central High School.

He rounded the bases for a few seasons but when COVID became a reality posted a 5–4 record with a 3.74 ERA, his highest since 2011, and 92 strikeouts over 67+¹⁄₃ innings in 12 starts along with 1.38 WHIP which was ironically the highest of his career.

Earlier this year (February 4th) he signed a one-year, $15.5 million deal with the Jays but to his frustration March 29 in his debut after throwing a short three innings and was placed on the injured list with right thumb inflammation. 

On June 13th he made a rehab start for the Buffalo Bisons, the Jay’s affiliate but was sent for rehab to Vancouver dressing for the Vancouver Canadian’s in game one of the doubleheader against Eugene (SF) that saw the C’s split both games. 

They did however manage a 5-3 win but dropped game two by a 9-0 margin but did receive a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd. 

He gave up a leadoff walk striking out the next two getting an inning-ending groundout working on a strict pitch count working for three innings, giving up three hits, two runs, walked a pair and K’ed three over his 49 pitches (33 strikes).

On the US holiday the first two innings saw the Emeralds score four unearned runs while the C’s managed one heading to the fifth. 

Eugene added a pair in the fifth while the C’s managed one, dropping the contest by an 8-2 margin.

Say what you will about Max at the Nat win or lose it was clearly a huge win for the Vancouver Crowd.