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Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer takes another ‘step forward’ with light bullpen session

This was Scherzer’s attempt to make himself a viable option for the Rangers at some point in a potential playoff run.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Just 15 days after he was diagnosed with a strained muscle behind his right shoulder that was expected to end his season, Max Scherzer threw pitches off a mound Wednesday in what he called another “step forward” in his attempt to make himself a viable option for the Rangers at some point in a potential playoff run.

Which of course leads to the next question: Uh, what series might that be?

Wild Card? AL Division? ALCS? World Series?

Scherzer isn’t going there.

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“If you think about the end game and start circling dates, you get emotional about getting ready,” he said. “You end up competing with the injury. And that’s the worst thing you can do. You don’t aim for anything specific. The body tells you what you can and can’t do. You show up every day and do your work.”

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Scherzer didn’t give specifics about his bullpen session, saying only that intensity varied, thus making the number of pitches irrelevant. He did say that as he ramped up intensity over the outing, he became more aware of the muscle. He also went through a full post-throwing workout, as usual. He will see how he recovers on Thursday and the Rangers will take the next steps if he has no setbacks.

“The slope amplifies everything,” he said. “The big thing for me is to see how you recover. If something is taking on more stress than it should be because of [compensating for the shoulder muscle], it will show up the next day.”

Scherzer, acquired at the deadline from the New York Mets, left his start against Toronto on Sept. 12 after 5.1 scoreless innings. When an MRI showed a strain of the teres major muscle, GM Chris Young said it was “unlikely” Scherzer would pitch again in 2023, but didn’t rule out the possibility completely. The injury requires rest, not a surgical procedure, for recovery. Both José Leclerc and Corey Kluber suffered the injury for the Rangers in July 2020. Neither pitched again in that season.

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