Max Scherzer, who started just eight games this season, is returning to Texas to have his fatigued right shoulder examined, general manager Chris Young said Sunday.
Scherzer was placed on the injured list on August 2 due to exhaustion and will not return when he first becomes eligible to play later this week.
“I know he’s frustrated, but his shoulder issues just haven’t improved,” general manager Chris Young said before Texas finished a three-game series against the Yankees. “We’re hoping that maybe we can come back and try other diagnostic measures and get him back on the mound. But I don’t know what the timeline will be.”
Scherzer returned from offseason back surgery on June 23 and was 2-4 with a 3.89 ERA. He struggled through his final outing before returning to the injured list. In a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on July 30, he allowed three runs in four innings, throwing 68 pitches.
Manager Bruce Bochy said after the game that Scherzer’s arm was “just tired there” and that he could feel it in his triceps.
Scherzer said that night he was trying to “fight through these starts and improve,” adding that he only needed an extra day and would not have to go on the injured list.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner celebrated his 40th birthday on July 27 and was signed by the New York Mets at the transfer deadline last season.
Due to an injury to the left oblique abdominal muscle, Scherzer was only able to take part in 23 starts in 2022, this year he was only able to take part in 27 starts due to neck cramps and a strain of the right round muscle.
He was forced out of his start in Game 3 of the World Series after three innings. He could have started in a possible Game 7, but was taken off the roster before Game 4 in Arizona, one night before the Rangers won their first World Series title with a Game 5 victory.
In addition, Nathan Eovaldi is returning to Texas to seek advice from team physician Dr. Keith Meister. Eovaldi left the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader after three innings as a precaution due to right-side tightness and could miss his next scheduled start or be pushed back.
“We’re hoping this can be managed,” Young said. “He’s doing well today. Actually, better than he was a few days ago, I think. He believes he can get through this. We’re just not sure we want to force him to do that.”
“He’s so important to us that we’re not sure if we want to put pressure on him. We may have to hold him back or miss a start. We don’t think it’s an IL at this point, but we’ll make a clear decision once he sees Dr. Meister.”
Eovaldi struggled through his briefest outing of the season, throwing 81 pitches and struggling with his split-finger fastball. In his final inning, a trainer came out to check on him before the Rangers pulled him from the team.
Eovaldi is 8-6 with a 3.75 ERA in 21 starts this season. He missed 22 games in May because of a strained right groin.
Eovaldi went 12-5 for Texas last season, tied for the team lead in wins. During the Rangers’ championship run, the right-hander was 6-0 with a 2.95 ERA in six starts.
