Max Scherzer's First Surgery At 39 'Badge Of Honor,' Aims For July Return

Max Scherzer had surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back in December. He's pain-free now and hopes to return to Texas Rangers by July.

ARLINGTON — Max Scherzer thought he was in the clear. It was three weeks after he and the Texas Rangers won their first World Series title and Scherzer believed the back pain that forced him out of Game 3 of the World Series was healing.

An MRI after the season showed some inflammation, and a week after the Rangers championship parade, it was feeling better.

"I feel great, I can feel progress," Scherzer said at the time. "I'm getting out of this back spasm thing."

And then, two days later...

"All of a sudden, I had nerve pain in my leg," said Scherzer, who turns 40 in July. "I was like, 'Alright, something's not right."

Scherzer gave it the weekend, but it didn't improve. He alerted the doctors, who administered an epidural, which typically takes 48 to 72 hours to work.

On Thanksgiving Night, at the 48-hour mark, pain started shooting down Scherzer's calf.

"So I'm like, 'Oh, no, what do I do? What do I do,'" he said. 

He toughed it out through another weekend, but the pain didn't subside. He couldn't even raise his calf, which was a red flag for Scherzer. He was given a second epidural, but nothing changed. Doctors did another MRI and this time they detected a herniated disc.

"They couldn't believe it," he said. "They even looked back at that first MRI. Now, it's completely different and it's clear as day."

Scherzer had surgery in December to repair the herniated disc, the first of his career.

"I take this on as a badge of honor," he said during the Rangers FanFest at Globe Life Field. "I'm 39 years old before my first surgery, so it's my first time having to go through something structurally like this."

Scherzer is keeping a glass half-full view of his circumstances, which are likely to prevent him from return to the Rangers roster until July.

"I wasn't doing anything [physical]. I wish I could tell you that, actually, I was jumping off a boat, or something crazy," he said. "But, no, that's not the case. I'm literally hobbling around chasing kids, that was the extent of what I was doing."

Scherzer says six weeks after his surgery he's had no complications.

"I actually feel great, like the surgery worked," he said. "The moment I had it, I went home and I felt great. I didn't even have to take anti-inflammatories."

He's now in a stage of building muscle back up and figuring out "how to keep the arm primed" as he's navigating the rehab process.

"The biggest concerns are bending, lifting, twisting, your BLTs, and how you slowly phase those in and how you slowly phase in throwing. That's a challenge," he said.

Scherzer News Underscores Rangers' Pitching Needs

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