» Thumb issues blowing up on Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer

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In the words of Mad Max Scherzer, his brief time with the Blue Jays is becoming a $15.5 million U.S. “recipe for disaster.”

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In less than a month, he’s gone from Mad Max, to frustrated Max, to borderline irate Max.

It all spilled out on Saturday afternoon outside of the Blue Jays clubhouse, where after his debut with his seventh big-league team lasted all of three innings. The thumb that has thwarted him for more than a year and limited his work in spring training has travelled north to Canada for the start of the season — and it isn’t pretty.

Scherzer acknowledged after another disheartening loss to the Baltimore Orioles — a 9-5 groaner before 27,005 — that the issues with his right lat that had him removed from the game were “100% related to the thumb.”

It’s the worst news possible for both player, who was dying to bring his Hall of Fame pedigree north of the border and for the club paying him handsomely to do so.

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“Yeah, I’m frustrated,” an animated Scherzer said. “I want to pitch. I know I can pitch. I know I can throw the ball really well. Unfortunately I’ve got an issue going on. It’s coming from the thumb and I’ve got to address this.

“I’ve got to zero out that thumb before I can pitch again.”

The troublesome thumb, which above everything else affects Scherzer’s ability to grip the baseball, has been driving the pitcher bonkers for almost a year now. When the rest of his body kicks in to try to compensate, other parts break down.

Last year it was the shoulder that shut him down for much of the season and limited him to just nine starts with the Texas Rangers. And now it’s the lat, which clearly affected his ability to throw full out on Saturday.

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“I’m dealing with some discomfort and I’ve got to get that 100% healthy,” Scherzer said. “I’ve been dealing with this for so long that I can’t pitch through this injury. There are so many other injuries you can pitch through. You can pitch through a lot, actually. But this thumb is absolutely critical to your arm health, and so I got to get this 100% before pitch again.”

Next steps will be critical, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Jays pulled back for a period to make sure that it doesn’t blow up into a season long disaster. The thinness at the starting pitching spot is problematic in that regard, but does the team really have a choice?

It’s certainly been a crushing situation for a team hoping to have a boost from the future Hall of Famer, both with his presence on the mound and in the clubhouse where his vast experience rubs off on teammates.

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The frustration is clearly evident all around.

“I mean, you’re talking about an elite pitcher,” manager John Schneider said after his team fell to 1-2. “So whenever you don’t feel exactly right, you’re pissed off. And I know he speaks very candidly about it and our conversations — he’s very open and candid about it. He wants to pitch. He wants to win. It’s the reason he came here. So, frustrated is a good way to put it.”

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Scherzer said the lat had been bothering him some over the past couple of days and tightened during warmups prior to Saturday’s much-anticipated debut. He alerted Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker of the potential for problems and to be at the ready. It was prophetic advice.

“After that third inning, I could just kind of tell we’re in imminent danger if you pitch through this and keep pitching as the arm fatigues,” Scherzer said. “At that point, I felt like it was the best decision for the team and myself to get out of the ball game.

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“Even though I was able to grip the ball a little bit better, I still have discomfort in my thumb. And my arm is making adjustments because of that. And that’s just a recipe for disaster.”

Compounding Scherzer’s anger at the situation is the way he’s pitched for the most part this spring. His location was excellent in his first three starts in spring training and his arm feels strong. But when the thumb thwarts, he unravels.

“On the mound, I actually feel like I’ve getting through the ball like I always have,” Scherzer said. “But today I knew I couldn’t get through, I couldn’t really go after that last gear and let it fly and really step on the gas.

“If I did that, I know bad things could happen.”

Some would say they already have. A contract to a 40-year-old veteran with fresh injury woes was always going to come heavily weighed with risk. And for all the Mad Max mania Scherzer could have brought, it’s threatening to unravel spectacularly to a team that can ill afford the consequences.

And the longer it lingers — and the betting is he won’t see game action for a while — the notion of paying all that money for potentially damaged goods could well be the latest calamity for the Jays’ front office.

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