Today's story is how piano playing helped a Major League pitcher conquer his medical problems.
Here's a story that was aired on March 29th in 2025. Saturday in Toronto, there was such a sense of hope and excitement. Max Scherzer, the likely future Hall of Famer who looks like he still has something left in his tank, was making his Blue Jay's debut. Three hours later, Scherzer was using phrases like "imminent danger" and "this is a recipe for disaster." He had some soreness and inflammation in his right-hand thumb.
The Blue Jays recalled left-hander Easton Lucas from AAA Buffalo to take Scherzer's place on the active roster, and Scherzer went on the illness list. "I'm frustrated, I wanna pitch," he said, "I know I can pitch." He said it over and over again. "I could throw that ball really well. Unfortunately, I have an issue going on that's coming from the thumb."
Now, let's fast forward to this March. After dealing with that right thumb issue for years that once had him contemplating retirement, Toronto Blue Jay's veteran starting pitcher, Max Scherzer, found a solution in a unique way. Scherzer explained to the Athletic's Ken Rosenthal that playing the piano helped him relieve the discomfort in his thumb and get back to pitching like the future hall of famer that he is. "When you're playing different keys and notes and chords, your hands are in very unique positions. It makes you really work through your fingertips. By working those muscles in my hand, I got my fingers 'stronger.' That alleviated all the thumb pain."
The pitcher said that he was extremely close to walking away from baseball during the preseason, and treatments like needles and cortisone shots weren't helping. He turned to the keys when he started teaching his four children how to play the piano shortly after the All Star break. He had basic knowledge from when his mother had him take piano lessons when he was a child, while he admitted, "obviously I never was that good," he started to feel relief in his thumb almost immediately. And he continued honing his skills by watching YouTube tutorials of popular songs. The 41-year-old began requesting to play the piano at the hotels the Blue Jays were staying at during road trips. He eventually brought his own keyboard to play at a low volume in his room.
It took a while for him to improve and to show up on the stat sheet, but he made three post-season starts for Toronto and produced a 3.77 ERA over 14.1 innings. He only allowed one run in the 4.1 innings before the Blue Jays lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4 in 11 innings.
Scherzer's newfound love for the piano led to some good natured ribbing from his teammates, but he doesn't mind at all while his thumb continues to feel better. "t's only stupid if it doesn't work," Scherzer said, "It works, so it can't be stupid."
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