October 21, 2017
Photo credit: MLB.com
Left-handed pitcher Tim Mayza reached his childhood dream of pitching in the big leagues during the 2017 season.
That dream took a lot of hard work to achieve, as Mayza has experienced some ups and downs during his minor league journey.
Dealing with a few of those downs in double-A in 2017 didn’t slow Mayza down. In fact, the lefty was able to put his early season struggles behind him thanks to the help of Vince Horsman.
That help showed when Mayza moved up to the triple-A Buffalo Bisons in July. Allowing just two earned runs, and maintaining a 0.93 ERA in triple-A was great to see.
As expected, Mayza speaks very highly about both of his minor league stops in 2017.
“Both teams had players and coaches that made my experiences very enjoyable,” stated Mayza. “I got off to a slow start in New Hampshire which wasn’t ideal, but Vince Horsman found some things I needed to improve on to get me back on track and from there the baseball side of it improved heading into Buffalo.”
Those improvements in Buffalo earned Mayza a major league call-up in August. Getting into his first big league contest in the 9th inning of a 6-4 defeat by the Tampa Bay Rays; was a moment that Mayza will never forget.
“My debut was a very surreal feeling,” said Mayza. “It was a dream come true, and having my family there made it very special.”
Mayza would go on to log 17 big league innings in 2017. Finishing his season with a 1.65 WHIP wasn’t completely ideal for the prospect, but it gave Mayza an idea of what it takes to succeed at the major league level moving forward.
He believes his struggles came about due to the adjustments he made to his mental game in the majors.
“The mental game was the biggest transition,” explained Mayza. “You have to go out there with the focus of making quality pitches, and at times the hitters are going to hit quality pitches. You have to be able to overcome those obstacles and continue to focus on what you can control.”
Sharpening his 4-seam fastball, 2-seam fastball, changeup, and slider will be focal points this off-season for Mayza.
Along with that, Mayza wants to get stronger and work on his mechanics, too.
“My plans are to hit the weights and get stronger,” stated Mayza. “From a baseball side, I need to get stronger on my front side. It tends to fly open which doesn’t allow me to stay on top of my slider and causes a lack of fastball command at times.”
Toronto Blue Jays fans hope that Tim Mayza can get stronger in the areas he wants this off-season.