Justin Maese continues to improve in Lansing

The Toronto Blue Jays 3rd round pick from 2015 is looking to take big steps sooner rather than later

Justin Maese continues to come into form with the Lansing Lugnuts and is looking like a force to reckoned with in the Mid West League.  This year he has been on fire in his first full season with the Toronto Blue Jays organization.  He was drafted in the third round of the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft out of Ysleta High School in El Paso, TX.  At Ysleta, he was the star quarterback and was drawing interest from scouts from football programs.  22 touchdowns in a state dominated by the love of football will draw a crowd.

The gifted youngster opted to play baseball and the Blue Jays were waiting with open arms.  The Jays selected him with the 91st overall pick and signed him not long after.  He made his Gulf Coast League debut on August 8th, 2015 and shut out the GCL Pirates for 1.2 innings.  He continued to build up his workload and finished the short season with some great numbers.  He was able to get into eight games including four starts on his way to a 5-0 record.  He threw 35.2 innings with a 1.01 ERA.  He did not allow more then one run in any outing for the season.

The key so far for Maese has been throwing strikes and using his pinpoint control to induce ground balls.  He does not strike out a ton of batters (just 19 in those 35.2 innings in his debut season).  He makes up for that by allowing nearly zero walks.  He allowed just six free passes during those innings in the Gulf Coast League.  Maese has run with that formula and has only improved so far this season.

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This season he has already been promoted from the Vancouver Canadians (Short Season Single A) to the Lansing Lugnuts (Full Season Single A) team.  Thus far he has performed excellently with the Lugnuts and has been very valuable to them as they make a playoff push.  So far Maese has thrown 33.2 innings for the Lugnuts and holds a 2.67 ERA with a 1-1 record.

He had a couple of rough outings as he got settled, but the amazing thing is that he still has not allowed a really crooked number and has pitched in at least 5.0 innings in all of his starts.  The most runs that Maese has allowed in a start for the Lugnuts was in his debut were he allowed four earned runs on eight hits during 6.0 innings of work.

I had the pleasure of seeing Maese for myself on August 7th.  From what I was told I got to see the typical Maese start.  He threw 5.0 innings and allowed just two hits and a pair of walks.  He pounded the strike zone and the Fort Wayne Tin Caps could not square him up.  The two hits were the only hard hit balls during his entire outing.

"“Justin Maese understands exactly what sort of pitcher he is – throw strikes, stay low in the zone, get ahead with the fastball and finish with the slider – and he has the ability and mentality to execute that game plan.-Jesse Goldberg-StrasslerLugnuts Broadcaster"

Maese was having control issues but still threw 49 of 84 pitches for strikes.  The two walks he surrendered in this game accounted for 2 of his 6 walks during his time in Lansing.

I really enjoyed watching the 19-year-old Maese carve through a prospect loaded Tin Caps lineup.  Maese is getting a ton of praise from the Lugnuts broadcaster Jesse Goldberg-Strassler.  He has also enjoyed watching him thus far with Lansing.  

“Justin Maese understands exactly what sort of pitcher he is – throw strikes, stay low in the zone, get ahead with the fastball and finish with the slider – and he has the ability and mentality to execute that game plan. If he was a 23-year-old in Single-A pulling this off, akin to Kendall Graveman in April 2014, I’d be impressed. But he’s not 23, he’s 19, and that means he can get a whole lot better from here.” said Goldberg-Strassler.  

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After seeing Justin Maese pitch I am a believer and look forward to seeing him develop into a great pitcher.  He has the makeup of a smart pitcher with great stuff.  He is mature beyond his years and looks ready for any challenge.  I could not help of thinking of Mark Buehrle‘s pitching style during his start.  He has better fastball velocity the Buehrle did but has a similar makeup and approach.

The mantra of pummelling the lower half of the strike zone, get ground balls, and not fearing contact appears to be working perfectly for the youngster.  The sky appears to be the limit for this talented pitcher.