Texas Rangers veteran pitcher Max Scherzer returned to the injured list.
The three-time Cy Young award winner was placed on 15-day IL, retroactive to Wednesday, due to fatigue in the right shoulder. This is Scherzer’s second time on the shelf this year. To begin the season, he was on the injured list after undergoing surgery for a herniated disc in his back during the offseason.
He didn’t make his first appearance until June 23 and has only started eight games with mixed results this season for a Rangers team struggling to defend its World Series title.
At 40 years old and having pitched 2,874 innings in his career, Father Time is apparently on his heels due to the recent injuries he has suffered.
Aside from the fatigue in his right shoulder that has been bothering him throughout the season, Scherzer dealt with pain in his thumb and also with nerve problems. And those injuries don’t bode well for a Rangers rotation that has caught the injury bug recently.
Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray and Tyler Mahle are also on the Texas injured list. In terms of recovery, deGrom recently threw a 45-pitch bullpen while he is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Gray will miss the month of August with a groin injury. Mahle, also recovering from Tommy John surgery, threw 74 pitches in his minor league comeback mission and is the closest to returning of the three.
Currently in the Rangers rotation are Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning and José Ureña. The team replaced starter Michael Lorenzen at the deadline, further reducing headcount.
But with the team at 52-27, 4 1/2 games back in the AL West and eight games out of the wild card spot, they’ll have to hope their future Hall of Fame pitcher can return soon to help them in their momentum at the end of the season.
