Blue Jays ace Max Scherzer's recent pitching bodes well for post-season

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Mad Max is beginning to show the signs of a staff ace.

When the Jays signed future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer to a one-year deal, they had an inkling what they were getting. But few could have envisioned this version, especially after he left with a sore thumb in his Blue Jays debut after giving up two homers in three innings when Baltimore came to town in the season’s opening series.

Out until June 29 with the thumb injury, Scherzer making his 10th start as a Blue Jay on Thursday afternoon at the Rogers Centre, delivered his fourth quality start in a row, going seven innings in a 2-1 Toronto victory over the Chicago Cubs. He allowed one run on five hits and a walk, while striking out three, lowering his ERA to 3.83 — the first time it’s been under 4.00 all season.

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When a rehabbing Shane Bieber, like Scherzer a former Cy Young winner, was acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline, many pegged the right-hander to open the playoffs for the Jays.

On Friday night in Buffalo, Bieber makes another rehab start in triple-A as his Toronto debut nears. However, as of today, it’s Scherzer who deserves start Game 1 of the post-season.

In his four consecutive quality starts, the 41-year-old right-hander has allowed just seven earned runs in 26 innings for a 2.24 ERA with an impressive 24-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and even Eric Lauer, have had their moments on the mound. But none has the resume of Scherzer as the go-to guy on the hill to open the playoffs. Bieber, potentially, can fill that role, but until he’s on a big-league mound, he must be viewed as an unknown.

Keep in mind that things can change in the remaining weeks to follow, but a 1-2 punch of Scherzer and a healthy Bieber does sound appealing.

Fully aware of the Cubs’ aggressive approach at the plate, Scherzer felt the key was to be aggressive right back. As he said afterwards: “Strike one, locate it, get the ball where you want it. It’s OK if they swing at it.”

The Cubs did make some hard contact, but the defence behind him — most notably Davis Schneider’s diving catch in left-centre off Canadian callup Owen Caissie, swinging at the first pitch he saw in the majors — kept the game scoreless early on.

“It was a good game overall,’’ added Scherzer.

Being around the baseball block as long as he has, Scherzer wasn’t going to look too far into the future and nor was he going to comment on the possibility of a six-man rotation. He was more than willing to talk about the fans who have been flocking to the ballpark.

“They’re special and the fans have been great,” he said.

With Thursday’s game so tight, the Jays’ bullpen entered the game with no margin for error.

Brendon Little, Seranthony Dominguez and Jeff Hoffman, who earned his 27th save, accounted for six combined strikeouts when facing the Cubs’ final eight batters.