Max Scherzer is not called Mad Max just for fun. Be it on the mound or in the locker room, his intensity and fierce competitive nature are what kept him alive over the years. Remember how he almost hit assistant coach Tom Vitello at Missouri? During freshman year in college, Scherzer was not getting enough opportunities on the mound. Frustrated by the ignorance, Mad Max cornered his then-assistant coach, Vitello, and almost punched him in the face. “Fortunately, he didn’t punch me,” Vitello revealed years later about the incident.

Some 22 years later, the Blue Jays’ ace almost repeated the incident in Detroit while still setting his feet in the Jays locker room. After a convincing win over the Tigers this Thursday, when Blue Jays lefty Eric Lauer showed up postgame with a noticeable bruise and swollen lip and a straight-faced story involving Scherzer’s fists, it got everyone thinking: Is Mad Max back?

As reported by Jomboy Media, “Eric Lauer says he had to get six stitches on his lip because he bothered Max Scherzer before his start.” Although jokingly, Lauer confirmed the bruise was from the veteran ace. “So, there’s kind of this known thing to not mess with [Max] Scherzer on his start days… I tried to talk to him a little too early… And six stitches is what you get for that,” Lauer said.

Eric Lauer didn’t just pitch a gem—he delivered one of the season’s best deadpan jokes. After eight walk-free innings of one-run ball, attention shifted to the swollen lip on his face. His explanation? A dead-serious tale about violating the unspoken rule of not talking to Max Scherzer on start day. The story was delivered so straight, many reporters momentarily believed Toronto’s southpaw had actually been punched by a teammate.

Lauer claimed he approached Scherzer too early—headphones in, locked-in—and received “six stitches” for the mistake. The joke worked because Scherzer’s intense pregame persona is infamous across the league and entirely believable. Teammates and opponents alike have described him as unapproachable, laser-focused, and borderline volatile before a start. In fact, one 2023 postseason story confirmed a teammate avoided walking near Scherzer’s locker entirely.

What deepened the intrigue was Lauer’s refusal to clarify the real story behind the swollen lip. When asked again if Scherzer actually punched him, he only shrugged with a sly grin and walked away. That silence—combined with the perfect delivery—sparked genuine speculation about whether there was more to it. In a winning clubhouse full of veteran energy and weird lefties, the mystery became part of the moment.

Whether Lauer was protecting a secret or perfecting a stand-up routine, we may never know. What’s certain is that timing a joke as well as a fastball is an underrated skill. In a league where every bruise gets analyzed, Lauer gave us mystery, mischief, and maybe a little misdirection. One thing’s clear: if Scherzer did hit him, Lauer’s lucky it wasn’t with a fastball.

Jokes apart, Max Scherzer tips his hat to the Yankees

Turns out, Max Scherzer doesn’t need a bruised lip to make headlines—just a few misplaced fastballs and a mic. While Eric Lauer’s fat-lip saga sparked whispers and memes, Scherzer kept it blunt and baseball. The three-time Cy Young winner got tagged by the Yankees and still found the grace to salute them. No excuses, no cover-ups—just hard truths from a guy who usually deals them, not receives them.

Max Scherzer didn’t look like a three-time Cy Young winner against the Yankees on Tuesday night. The 40-year-old right-hander gave up four runs on five hits over five innings of work. A three-run bomb by Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the first and a solo shot by Cody Bellinger in the fifth did most of the damage. The Blue Jays eventually lost 5–4 after Ben Rice’s solo homer off Jeff Hoffman in the ninth.

Scherzer, now sporting a 5.14 ERA across six starts, owned up to his mistakes postgame. “I tip my hat to the Yankees,” he said without hesitation. “They’re tough as nails… You make mistakes like that, they punish you,” he added bluntly. The honesty stood out—no vague injury talk, no mystery bruises, just clear accountability from a veteran ace.

In a sport full of spin—on and off the mound—Max Scherzer kept it straight. While some pitchers hide behind trainers’ tape and cryptic quotes, he chose to own every pitch and every word. That’s the difference between bruised pride and a bruised lip: one tells the truth, the other dodges it. Scherzer may have missed spots, but he didn’t miss the moment. Honesty, like velocity, still plays at the highest level.