The Blue Jays announced Monday that right-hander Max Scherzer has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to tendinitis in his right forearm and inflammation in his left ankle. A timetable for his return to the roster has not yet been provided. Right-hander Chase Lee is up from Triple-A Buffalo to take Scherzer’s spot on the roster.

Scherzer signed a one-year, $3MM deal with the Jays during spring training. At the time the deal was reported, early indications were that Toronto would build the 41-year-old up slowly after an injury-plagued 2025 campaign. Injuries elsewhere on the staff perhaps accelerated that trajectory. José Berríos was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his elbow. Trey Yesavage opened the season  on the injured list due to a shoulder impingement. Cody Ponce tore his ACL. Shane Bieber has yet to pitch due to elbow inflammation. He’s on the 60-day IL.

Things went well in Scherzer’s season debut. He tossed six innings, held the Rockies to a run on four hits and a walk, and sat 93.4 mph with his four-seamer — right in line with last year’s 93.6 mph average. It’s been mostly downhill from there. Scherzer does have one other quality start among his five appearances this year — two runs in six innings against the D-backs on April 18 — but he fanned only one batter in that outing. Overall, since that encouraging start to the season, he’s pitched a total of 12 innings and been rocked for 19 runs in 12 2/3 innings. His average fastball has clocked in under 93 mph in three of those four appearances (sitting 92.8 mph overall in that span).

More to come.