<p>If you&#8217;re both a Toronto Maple Leafs and a Toronto Blue Jays fan, I completely understand if you don&#8217;t have the appetite to read anything Blue Jays-related right now.</p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
<p>In a rare instance of breaking Blue Jays news on a Maple Leafs site, if you haven&#8217;t heard, the Blue Jays and star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr failed to reach a contract agreement before the deadline that was set by Guerrero and his camp. This doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean that he won&#8217;t be able to re-sign with the Jays during the season, but it implies that he&#8217;ll be testing free agency after the 2025 season, which is a point nobody wanted to reach. Anyway! If you&#8217;d like to read more about that, head <a href="https://www.tsn.ca/toronto-blue-jays-vladimir-guerrero-jr-fail-to-reach-extension-prior-to-self-imposed-deadline-1.2253919">over this way</a>.</p>
<p>Before all of the Guerrero drama came to a boiling point, the folks at Leafs Morning Take had a chance to talk to one of the Jays&#8217; new signings of the offseason, Max Scherzer. The 40-year-old starting pitcher is much more than just that, having won a World Series twice. Once with the Washington Nationals in 2019 and once with the Texas Rangers in 2023. He&#8217;s taken home the Cy Young Award as the league&#8217;s best pitcher four times and made the all-star game eight times. He comes to Toronto on a one-year contract with aspirations of winning his third ring, and although age has caught up to him, he&#8217;s still a capable back-of-the-rotation starting pitcher with enough wisdom and experience to last a lifetime.</p>
<p>While there wasn&#8217;t a lot of Leafs-specific chatter during Scherzer&#8217;s conversation with TLN&#8217;s Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill, he did confirm the parallel that some people draw between goaltenders and pitchers, with Rosehill using the Leafs&#8217; tandem of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll as an example.</p>
<p>&#8220;Yeah, it&#8217;s kind of like the &#8216;defence wins championships&#8217; model,&#8221; Scherzer said. &#8220;The goalie is kind of the last defender, everyone looks at them, kind of like everyone looks at the pitcher. They&#8217;re the ones holding the ball, they&#8217;re the ones attacking the other lineup. It&#8217;s the pitcher against the other team&#8217;s nine hitters, it&#8217;s the goalie against the other team. Those are some similarities, I definitely get that train of thought.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s easy to ask Scherzer about the comparisons between pitchers and hockey because he&#8217;s going into his 18th year as a pitcher in Major League Baseball, but make no mistake, the veteran hurler is as much of a hockey fan as anyone.</p>
<p>&#8220;I love watching every facet of hockey. The defencemen, the penalty kills, just watching the sport, how everybody competes and how everyone thinks around it, that&#8217;s definitely fun to watch.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not uncommon for Blue Jays players to show up and support the Leafs at their home games and vice versa, and although Scherzer hasn&#8217;t had a chance to connect with Auston Matthews or anyone else on the Leafs, he plans to make it to a game this season and hopes the two teams come out and lift each other up.</p>
<p>&#8220;Get the Blue Jays over to see a [Leafs game], get the teams kind of mingling a little bit. Hope we can rub off on each other, hope the fans rub off on each other, that&#8217;s where the magic happens.&#8221;</p>
<p>You can watch the full video below.</p>
<div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Max Scherzer on Signing in Toronto, Hockey Passion &amp; Killer Instinct" width="1424" height="801" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QdYBdMDWTEk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong></p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="324" data-promotion-id="18983" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>


If you're both a Toronto Maple Leafs and a Toronto Blue Jays fan, I completely understand if you don't have the appetite to read anything Blue Jays-related right now.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
In a rare instance of breaking Blue Jays news on a Maple Leafs site, if you haven't heard, the Blue Jays and star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr failed to reach a contract agreement before the deadline that was set by Guerrero and his camp. This doesn't necessarily mean that he won't be able to re-sign with the Jays during the season, but it implies that he'll be testing free agency after the 2025 season, which is a point nobody wanted to reach. Anyway! If you'd like to read more about that, head <a href="https://www.tsn.ca/toronto-blue-jays-vladimir-guerrero-jr-fail-to-reach-extension-prior-to-self-imposed-deadline-1.2253919">over this way</a>.

Before all of the Guerrero drama came to a boiling point, the folks at Leafs Morning Take had a chance to talk to one of the Jays' new signings of the offseason, Max Scherzer. The 40-year-old starting pitcher is much more than just that, having won a World Series twice. Once with the Washington Nationals in 2019 and once with the Texas Rangers in 2023. He's taken home the Cy Young Award as the league's best pitcher four times and made the all-star game eight times. He comes to Toronto on a one-year contract with aspirations of winning his third ring, and although age has caught up to him, he's still a capable back-of-the-rotation starting pitcher with enough wisdom and experience to last a lifetime.

While there wasn't a lot of Leafs-specific chatter during Scherzer's conversation with TLN's Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill, he did confirm the parallel that some people draw between goaltenders and pitchers, with Rosehill using the Leafs' tandem of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll as an example.

"Yeah, it's kind of like the 'defence wins championships' model," Scherzer said. "The goalie is kind of the last defender, everyone looks at them, kind of like everyone looks at the pitcher. They're the ones holding the ball, they're the ones attacking the other lineup. It's the pitcher against the other team's nine hitters, it's the goalie against the other team. Those are some similarities, I definitely get that train of thought."

It's easy to ask Scherzer about the comparisons between pitchers and hockey because he's going into his 18th year as a pitcher in Major League Baseball, but make no mistake, the veteran hurler is as much of a hockey fan as anyone.

"I love watching every facet of hockey. The defencemen, the penalty kills, just watching the sport, how everybody competes and how everyone thinks around it, that's definitely fun to watch."

It's not uncommon for Blue Jays players to show up and support the Leafs at their home games and vice versa, and although Scherzer hasn't had a chance to connect with Auston Matthews or anyone else on the Leafs, he plans to make it to a game this season and hopes the two teams come out and lift each other up.

"Get the Blue Jays over to see a [Leafs game], get the teams kind of mingling a little bit. Hope we can rub off on each other, hope the fans rub off on each other, that's where the magic happens."

You can watch the full video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdYBdMDWTEk

<strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="324" data-promotion-id="18983" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>

New Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer compares pitchers to goaltenders

Recent articles from Alex Hobson

Breaking News