June 15, 2013
The Blue Jays have already signed their 12th and 13th rounders, pitcher Tim Mayza (left) and shortstop Tim Locastro (right).
Following their selection of Jake Brentz in the 11th round, Toronto took two college players with their next two picks, left-handed pitcher Tim Mayza in the 12th round and shortstop Tim Locastro in the 13th round.
According to the Blue Jays‘ official website, both players have already signed.
“There’s players we took 11 to 30 that we would have taken in the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth (rounds),” GM Alex Anthopoulos told the Toronto Star.
12th round, 355th overall: Tim Mayza, LHP – Millersville University (Pennsylvania)
A junior at Division II Millersville University, Mayza is a big-bodied left-hander at 6′ 3″, 205 pounds. Having worked his way up in the Marauders’ rotation, the Pennsylvania native finished the year 11-3 with a team-best 1.55 ERA in 15 starts. Mayza finished the year with 91 strikeouts and 27 walks in 98 2/3 innings, and his ERA was tops in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and 14th among all NCAA D-II schools in the country. Ranked No. 6 on their Division II top 2013 draft prospects list, Baseball America says Mayza “has yet to put it all together with secondary stuff, but has size 91-93 mph fastball, clean delivery.” BA also reports that Mayza signed for $100,000.
Mayza boosted his stock by facing tougher competition in the Cape Cod League last year, where the website Picks N Prospects offered this scouting report:
“Mayza’s problem was that he had no real secondary pitches. He played with a few different pitches as the season went on including a curve and a change up which did show some improvements towards the end of the season … but he even tipped his off speed pitches in some outings by having a slower arm speed with his secondary pitches than his fastball, and it just seemed like he was lobbing his secondary pitches instead of throwing them.”
“It is a lot to take in,” Mayza told Millersville Athletics. “I’m trying to chase the dream of playing in the big leagues. Every kid playing baseball has wishes of seeing their name up on that board. I’m happy that it happened, but I know there is quite a bit of hard work ahead and a long way to go until I reach my goal of the big leagues.”
13th round, 385th overall: Tim Locastro, SS – Ithaca College (New York)
Playing for the Division-3 Ithaca Bombers, Locastro had a banner year for his school, hitting .436 with 13 doubles, six triples and four home runs. The Auburn native led all Division-3 players by getting hit by a pitch 29 times, and he also set school single season records in runs (71) and stolen bases (40) while only getting caught stealing once. Locastro’s efforts were a big reason the Bombers set a new school record with 41 wins and reach the D-3 World Series for the first time in 19 years.
Locastro was a key player for Ithaca in the D-3 World Series, as he smacked a pair of home runs and had two hits in each of the Bombers’ five games en route to being named to the all-tournament team.
According to StarGazette.com, Locastro had a Blue Jays representative come to his house on Monday for a handshake agreement and he signed his contract two days later, this past Wednesday. Agreeing to forgo his final year of college to sign with the Blue Jays, Locastro’s contract includes tuition for his final two semesters at Ithaca.
The 20-year-old wasn’t expecting to get a phone call so early on Day 3 of the draft.
“To tell you the truth, I got a call from a scout where I expected to go. Just from the experience of Tucker Healy getting drafted 25th round, I thought the mid-20s was where I was going to go,” Locastro told The Ithacan. “That was what my expectation was, so I was absolutely shocked that I went that early.”
Jared Macdonald
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