Blue Jays’ Max Scherzer joins top-10 strikeout list with nobody close behind

PHILADELPHIA — It was the same as every other Max Scherzer pre-pitch routine. He received the ball back in his glove, flicked it over to his right hand, looked down, brought his glove to his face, swung his arms and then rocked into his delivery. Then he found his latest place in history.

With a sixth-inning strikeout of Kyle Schwarber in the Toronto Blue Jays’ 7-5 extra-innings win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, Scherzer moved beyond Walter Johnson for the 10th-most strikeouts in MLB history (3,516). He is one of two active players in the top 10, alongside Justin Verlander, and may be the final pitcher to crack the leaderboard.

“There are some really big-time names there,” Scherzer said, “and so to now be a part of that group, it’s special.”

It took Scherzer 6,675 days to go from one strikeout to 3,516. That opening K came April 29, 2008, against Michael Bourn of the Houston Astros, back when they were in the National League. Since then, he’s won three Cy Youngs and two World Series, gone to eight All-Star Games and pitched for seven MLB teams. His plaque in Cooperstown has been secure for some time.

This Toronto tenure for the 19-year veteran is but a small part of his larger career. By ERA, it’s been his least successful. By regular-season wins, it’s tied with his Texas Rangers stint for his fewest with a franchise. After getting his historic strikeout Saturday, Scherzer promptly allowed back-to-back homers and left the game. He’s not an undisputed ace anymore.

Yet there remains that chance for greatness every time Scherzer steps on the mound. The legend still stops by on occasion. Some days it’s outdueling Shohei Ohtani in Game 7 of the World Series, other days it’s screaming his manager off the mound in the American League Championship Series. Sometimes it’s freezing Schwarber with a four-seam fastball to move into the strikeout top 10.

Strikeout No. 3,516 for Max Scherzer!

He passes Walter Johnson for 10th place on the all-time Ks leaderboard pic.twitter.com/BpBRP4U4c2

— MLB (@MLB) August 8, 2026

“We’re talking top-10 anything in baseball, you’re lucky to be a small part of that,” manager John Schneider said.

Moving beyond Johnson and other all-time greats is an accomplishment in itself. Doing so in the current era of baseball, with rampant elbow inflammation and shorter starts than ever, is a different task. Behind Scherzer and Verlander, Chris Sale ranks No. 3 among active starters in strikeouts. The Atlanta Braves lefty, though, is still nearly 800 behind the top 10 and is 37 years old. He probably won’t crack the list. The active strikeouts leader among starters younger than 30 is San Francisco Giants righty Logan Webb at 1,095.

“Until MLB and the owners actually want to incentivize starting pitching and want to have starters pitch deeper into ballgames, it’s going to be probably a difficult thing to reach that milestone for somebody else,” Scherzer said. “But I think it’ll be done because I think eventually we’re going to look at it, and we’re going to want more starting pitching in the game.”

Maybe there will be a renaissance in complete games and high strikeout totals, but it certainly doesn’t seem as if baseball is trending that direction. There is a very real chance Scherzer is the last pitcher to rewrite the top-10 list.

Saturday’s strikeout looking, with Schwarber’s long walk back to the Phillies dugout, may be the last of its kind.

Guerrero Jr. went for MRI on hamstring, returns with a homer

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. returned Saturday from a three-game absence with a home run to deep left field. The Blue Jays first baseman has managed his ailing hamstring for weeks now, but this was the first time he was given a lengthy rest. The days off, Guerrero revealed Saturday, came after his hamstring was in real pain Tuesday in Houston. It prompted an MRI, which Guerrero said showed some inflammation.

“It was just a little bit of inflammation,” Guerrero said through team interpreter Hector Lebron. “Just a little bit. But I can go. I can play with it like that.”

If Guerrero can manage his legs and keep them fresh enough to turn on baseballs as he did Saturday, the Jays’ offence may trend in the right direction. Guerrero, as always, is the key to Toronto’s attack. His hamstring might be the key now, too.