Max Scherzer is not going to rush into a decision about retirement.
Scherzer, the 42-year-old three-time Cy Young Award winner, told reporters in Toronto that he will put off a decision on whether he will pitch in 2028 until the offseason. He plans to make one more appearance, on three days' rest, with the Blue Jays in their season finale Sunday, Sept. 27 at Rogers Centre. Scherzer said he wanted to ensure his wife and children got to see him pitch one more time, regardless of future plans.
Scherzer is a 224-game winner who ranks ninth on Major League Baseball's all-time strikeout list with 3,550 career punchouts. Like his longtime Detroit Tigers teammate, 43-year-old Justin Verlander, Scherzer is a lock for induction into baseball's Hall of Fame.
Verlander, a 266-game winner, ranks eighth on the strikeout list with 3,554 strikeouts; he is pitching in the final game of his career Saturday at Detroit's Comerica Park. It is just his second start of the season after myriad injuries.
Pitching into 2028 would afford Scherzer the chance to pass Verlander if he can't do so Sunday. Scherzer also needs just 91 strikeout to pass Don Sutton and Tom Seaver and move into sixth place on the all-time list.
Yet Scherzer insisted he's not locked in a can-you-top-this battle with Verlander, his Detroit teammate from 2010-2014. The two have been texting in recent days, he said.
"I hope he goes out there and strikes out the world today," Scherzer told reporters in Toronto.
There's one more potential consideration: Playing one more season would afford Scherzer and Verlander the stage to themselves at their respective Hall of Fame inductions, five years after they retire.
That much, at least, is a certainty.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Max Scherzer wishes Justin Verlander well, leaves door open for 2027 return
