Blue Jays: How playing the piano saved Max Scherzer's career
Photo credit: Demetrius Robinson - The Athletic
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Max Scherzer has an uncovered an unusual recovery process that helped his lingering thumb issues disappear and he didn't get it from a doctor. He got it from playing piano in a hotel lobby.
How close did Max Scherzer come to quitting the game in the first part of last season, when his thumb problem would not go away?
«Extremely close,» Scherzer told Ken Rosenthal in a recent interview with The Athletic.
Scherzer told Rosenthal the thumb issue caused the strained right teres major muscle that sidelined him at the end of 2023 and also the right shoulder fatigue that cost him six weeks in the second half of 2024.
He made one start last season before going on the injured list with right thumb inflammation.
He tried needling, cortisone shots and other forms of treatment. But he could not find relief of any kind from anywhere.
«There were a couple of times where if I didn't make my next bullpen or my next game, I was going to walk away,» Scherzer said.
Scherzer explains how he discovered that playing the piano gave him relief from pain and further injury that doctors couldn't
Scherzer explained to Rosenthal how he and then teammate Chris Bassitt (now with the Orioles) were at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Denver Colorado late one night, and Scherzer asked the desk clerk to unlock the piano to play some chops in the lobby.
According to Rosenthal, Scherzer's playlist included versions of Dr. Dre and Eminem anthems he learned by watching «Guitar Hero»-style piano treatments of their songs on YouTube. Scherzer even invited Bassitt to make requests.
His repertoire on the piano features rap and selections from «Top Gun.»
Playing piano not only resolved the lingering right-thumb issues that haunted Scherzer for two years but also enabled him to pitch more like his old self in the 2025 postseason and start Game 7 of the World Series.
According to Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker «He became Chopin, «and the rest is history.»
Unwilling to remain at the mercy of hotel staffs, uncomfortable playing in hotel lobbies, Scherzer bought a portable keyboard.
«When I heard about it at first, I was kind of making fun of him, calling him 'Mozart' and everything else,» said Bassitt, who is now with the Baltimore Orioles. «I was like, you really are losing your mind right now.»
Bassitt wasn't far off. Scherzer said doctors who previously examined him told him no surgical option existed to relieve the pain in the joints of his thumb.
None recommended a viable solution, which is why he literally chose to take matters into his own hands.
Scherzer, 41, continues to play both piano and baseball, convinced his work on the keys strengthens his finger and hand muscles, helps his dexterity and alleviates his thumb pain.
And this, believe it or not, is how a future Hall of Fame pitcher salvaged his career.
Scherzer, who on March 2 returned to the Blue Jays on a one-year, $3 million free-agent contract, will enter his 19th season coming off a spring in which he pitched 13 2/3 scoreless innings.
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| POLL | ||
MARS 23|147 ANSWERS Blue Jays: How playing the piano saved Max Scherzer's career Do you think Max Scherzer unlocked some kind of physiotherapy that doctor's didn't know about until now? | ||
| Yes | 92 | 62.6 % |
| No | 20 | 13.6 % |
| Only more research will tell | 35 | 23.8 % |
| List of polls | ||