Blue Jays: Reviewing Every Reliever After the First Month

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TORONTO, ON – AUGUST 15: Tim Mayza #58 of the Toronto Blue Jays delivers a pitch in the ninth inning during MLB game action against the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Centre on August 15, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

Tim Mayza – Supporting Reliever

Despite only appearing in 1.2 innings, Tim Mayza has reliably been one of the first names to come to mind when an arm is needed in a hurry. A southpaw, Mayza has allowed two hits, striking out two and walking one, appearing in two games.

While it’s not much, it’s nice to know that he’s an option, especially given the lack of left-handed depth in the upper minors. For the rest of the season, Mayza is likely to spend many nights on the Buffalo-Toronto shuttle, being called up in a pinch after a blowout or in the event of a sudden injury. In the near future, Mayza could be called upon as the 26th man during the doubleheader in Cleveland on May 3rd.

According to FanGraphs, Mayza has evenly used his fastball and his slider, getting decent swing and miss action on the slider. He’s also been getting quite a few of his outs via the fly ball, rarely allowing hitters to use the big parts of the ballpark.

As expected, #Bluejays activate John Axford off the bereavement list and option Tim Mayza back to #Bisons. Mayza’s going to ride that shuttle a lot this year.
— Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness) April 27, 2018

Really, there’s not much to say about Mayza. He’s a solid lefty who’ll play a supporting role for the remainder of the season. In Triple-A Buffalo, he will join fellow southpaws Sam Moll and Ryan Borucki as the only lefties on the staff.

As things currently stand, Mayza is a far more attractive option than Moll, who has struggled so far this season, pitching to a 4.70 ERA in 7.2 innings, striking out nine and allowing eight hits.

Grade: B

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