NEW YORK — Max Scherzer, who has been limited to eight starts this season, is returning to Texas to get his fatigued right shoulder checked out, Rangers general manager Chris Young said Sunday.
Scherzer was placed on the injured list Aug. 2 with fatigue and will not return when first eligible later this week.
“I know he’s frustrated, but [he] just hasn’t turned the corner with his shoulder,” Young said before the Rangers concluded a three-game series with the New York Yankees. “Our hope is that maybe we get back and explore some other diagnostic measures and get him back on the mound. But I don’t know what the timetable is going to be.”
Additionally, Nathan Eovaldi is returning to Texas to consult with team physician Dr. Keith Meister. Eovaldi exited after three innings in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader as a precaution due to right side tightness, and he may miss his next scheduled start or get pushed back.
“The hope is that this is something that can be managed,” Young said. “He’s feeling OK today. Actually, better than he was, I think, a couple of days ago. It’s something he thinks he can pitch through. We’re just not sure we want to make him do so.
“He’s so important to us that we’re not sure we want to push him. We may end up pushing him back or skipping a start. We don’t think it’s an IL at this point, but we will clearly decide that once he sees Dr. Meister.”
Scherzer returned from offseason back surgery June 23 and was 2-4 with a 3.89 ERA. He labored through his final outing before returning to the injured list, allowing three runs in four innings while throwing 68 pitches in a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on July 30.
Manager Bruce Bochy said after that game that Scherzer’s arm “just fatigued there” and that he could feel it in his triceps.
Scherzer said that night that he was “trying to grind through these starts and ramp up.” He added that he just needed an extra day and didn’t need to go on the injured list.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner, who turned 40 on July 27, was acquired from the New York Mets at last season’s trade deadline.
Scherzer was limited to 23 starts in 2022 by a left oblique injury and 27 starts last year by neck spasms and a right teres muscle strain.
He was forced from his start in Game 3 of the World Series after three innings. He would have started a potential Game 7 but was removed from the roster before Game 4 in Arizona. The Rangers won their first World Series title by winning Game 5.
Eovaldi labored through his shortest outing this season on Saturday, throwing 81 pitches and struggling with his split-fingered fastball. A trainer came out to check on him in his final inning before the Rangers lifted him.
He is 8-6 with a 3.75 ERA in 21 starts this season. He missed 22 games in May with a strained right groin.
Eovaldi went 12-5 for Texas last season, tying for the team lead in wins. During the Rangers’ postseason run, the right-hander was 5-0 with a 2.95 ERA in six starts.