Max Scherzer will throw live batting practice Friday, but that isn’t necessarily a precursor to a return against the Orioles.
The Texas Rangers starter has been out since September with a strained teres major muscle behind his right shoulder. He has been throwing bullpens recently, including one in full uniform Wednesday at Tropicana Field.
Texas will have a workout Friday at Camden Yards ahead of Saturday’s Game 1 of the ALDS. Although Scherzer will be throwing the live BP session, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy didn’t sound overly optimistic on the K&C Masterpiece that he’ll be available for the series.
“Boy, I’ll tell you what, that’s a longshot,” Bochy said. “He is going to throw today, he’s going to throw to hitters, he’s doing a lot better, but he hasn’t been stretched out or anything. So I would say that would be more on the doubtful side, but I will say with Max, he’s determined to find a way.
“So today we'll get a look at him. He’s going to throw to hitters after our workout … We have a lot of meetings, our workout is from 4-6, Max will throw around 5:30 and we'll take a look at how he feels, how it looks and we’ll see where we’re at.”
Scherzer’s potential return comes shortly after the Rangers had to do some unique maneuvering with another key starter in Nathan Eovaldi.
The righty, who started the clinching game in Tampa, avoided rehab starts in September by returning straight to the big leagues from a forearm strain, but on a pitch count. If Scherzer is to return, it could be with a similar plan.
“I’d say that’s fair to say. He just hasn’t been throwing that much,” Bochy said. “He’s been throwing some bullpens, maybe rushing things a little bit. But I don’t rule anything out. I've seen guys come back, I saw (Adolis) Garcia come back early, I saw Corey (Seager) come back early. You get the adrenaline going, it’s that time of year, they all understand the baseball season is almost over, we’ve got another three weeks of baseball. It’s not like you can take your time and get ready in a month or so. Who knows, we’ll see."
The latest the Rangers-Orioles series will go is next Friday.