Max Scherzer will be pitching for Round Rock tomorrow on a rehab assignment
Max Scherzer is heading out on a rehab assignment on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, with the AAA Round Rock Express, the team announced today. The expectation is that Scherzer will throw 50 pitches.
Scherzer has been on the injured list since the start of the season due to offseason back surgery. While the initial expectation was that Scherzer would be out until mid-June, he has progressed more rapidly than expected, and is looking at a May return date instead.
One would expect that Scherzer will make three rehab starts for Round Rock. If he does three and is activated, he would presumably be looking at being back in the Rangers rotation around May 11-13. The Rangers could, theoretically, activate Scherzer after just a couple of rehab starts, or could have him throw more than three rehab appearances, but my guess is that he’ll be activated after three appearances for Round Rock.
The Rangers starting rotation currently consists of Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Dane Dunning, Andrew Heaney and Michael Lorenzen, with Cody Bradford on the injured list. Scherzer would bump one of those pitchers from the rotation. Bradford, who was pitching very well before going on the injured list, could go to the bullpen, or could join Scherzer in the rotation.
In addition, Josh Sborz is making a rehab appearance for Frisco tonight. The expectation is that he will make at least one more appearance later this week before potentially being activated this weekend.