Max Scherzer has yet to reveal whether he plans to return for a 20th MLB season in 2027, but former teammate Juan Soto believes the Toronto Blue Jays veteran still has the competitive drive to keep pitching.

Scherzer, who is scheduled to make his 500th career MLB appearance Wednesday, recently declined to discuss his plans for next season. The 42-year-old has instead pointed to his ability to compete in meaningful games as the standard he uses to determine whether he should continue playing.

“You can give me a ball in a playoff start, and I can go out there and compete for it,” Scherzer said last week, as reported by Brittany Ghiroli and Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. “That’s my fundamental kind of litmus test of play or not play.”

Soto, who played alongside Scherzer with the Washington Nationals and won the 2019 World Series with him, believes Scherzer's competitiveness continues to fuel him.

“I think he wants to play forever,” Soto said, per Ghiroli and Bannon. “The love for the game he has, how confident he is. He’s a guy who tries to win in every aspect, people don’t even know, it’s not even baseball. It’s life.

“Everything with him is so competitive, and I think that’s what drives him. It makes him go out there and try to show everybody he can still do it.”

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Scherzer has continued to adapt throughout the later stages of his career while maintaining a demanding workout routine between starts. His next appearance will add another milestone to a career that has included 499 games and 490 starts.

The right-hander enters Wednesday with a 224-125 career record, 3.28 ERA and 1.09 WHIP across 3,035 2/3 innings, according to datat from ESPN. He has recorded 3,543 strikeouts and 810 walks.

Scherzer has made 16 starts for Toronto this season, going 3-8 with a 6.07 ERA and 1.36 WHIP over 72 2/3 innings. He has struck out 54 and walked 31.

His most recent start provided a better result. Scherzer allowed one run on three hits over five innings in Toronto's 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Sept. 16, earning his second win in four starts. He walked three and struck out three as the Blue Jays ended Detroit's six-game winning streak.

Reporting by Ian Harrison of The Associated Press contributed to this article.