» Max Scherzer has setback in recovery from thumb injury

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Now that the 14-year contract extension to Vlad Guerrero Jr. is tucked away for the Blue Jays, what about the return on the one-year, $15.5-million US deal for Max Scherzer?

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You may not want to know.

The frustrating thumb issue that has kept the 40-year-old veteran starter sidelined since his first start in a Blue Jays uniform isn’t getting better.

In fact, manager John Schneider has hinted at a setback with news that Scherzer has returned to his home in Florida to take care of some family business and later this week will have his thumb re-examined by a hand specialist.

Now more than two weeks since he made his lone start with the team — and an abbreviated one at that — a potential return feels a long way off.

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“It’s always a concern when you don’t have them pitching for you,” Schneider said on Monday. “Fair to say the longer he is out, the longer it will take to get him back.

“But first and foremost, just want to get it right.”

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Of course, that’s been the case since Scherzer made his Blue Jays debut on March 30. He left that game after three innings with what was originally described as lat soreness, but later revealed to be related to the thumb ailment that has nagged him the past few seasons.

There may feel like a slight out-of-sight, out-of-mind element to Scherzer’s status right now, but the longer his status lingers in uncertainty, the more there is an issue both with his potential return and with the immediate future of the Jays rotation.

As for the latest setback, Scherzer had a cortisone injection in his right thumb in late March and began throwing lightly on the team’s recent trip through New York, Boston and Baltimore. That was at least a glimmer of hope, even though he hadn’t felt good enough to throw off a mound.

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There has clearly been a setback, however, leading the three-time Cy Young Award winner to revisit a hand specialist in Dallas.

Scherzer, who has been on the injured list since March 29, appears to have shut down any activity for now, pending the next set of evaluations. As a result, it’s certainly looking like it will be a long road back with an uncertain time table at best.

“He threw for four or five days on the road and each day with some varying degree of good or bad,” Schneider said. “He just wants to hammer it out.”

Potentially exacerbating the depth issue with the Jays rotation was the latest performance by Easton Lucas, who was brilliant in the first two starts of his MLB career but was hit hard in an 8-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Monday. Just as the team wasn’t about to get too high after Easton’s two scoreless outings, it won’t panic after one poor one. But the longer Scherzer is out, the more depth looms as an issue.

“I’m frustrated,” Scherzer said after that abbreviated first start. “I want to pitch and I know I can throw the ball really well. Unfortunately I’ve got an issue going on (with the thumb) and I’ve got to address this.”

And it appears that’s going to take some time.

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