Blue Jays: Good and bad, careers that changed from a year ago

From a career in the balance, to a brighter future than ever

I distinctly remember the last time Tim Mayza left the mound in 2019, and while I’m the furthest thing from a doctor, you didn’t have to be one to know that it would be a while until he would return. In fact, I wasn’t sure we’d ever see Mayza on a big league diamond again.

His injury was one of those violent pictures that makes your stomach turn, and it was clear that the southpaw was immediately in pain, and also knew that the injury was serious. After Tommy John surgery to fix that injury pitching arm, the then-29 year old was in camp last spring looking to win a job on the big league roster.

At the time I figured that Mayza was destined to start the year in Triple-A, which made sense as he continued to work back from injury. Instead, he ended up performing as good as any reliever in camp, winning a job for Opening Day. It was all that more impressive because Mayza had to beat out veteran Francisco Liriano for the gig, who was signed to a MiLB contract, and the Jays ultimately knew it meant they wouldn’t be able to keep Liriano in the organization.

It turned out to be the right decision, as Mayza was one of the few reliable veterans throughout last season. He finished the campaign with a 3.40 ERA and a 0.981 WHIP over 53.0 appearances, appearing in 61 games in total. What was even more impressive was that Mayza earned the trust of Charlie Montoyo to the point where he was the most frequently used set-up man before Jordan Romano, and it didn’t really matter whether right or left-handed batters were due up.

Mayza is poised to return in the same type of role in 2022, and this time he’ll be able to enter spring camp with a different mind set (assuming spring camp eventually happens). Instead of trying to win a job, the Pennsylvania native can prepare with different priorities in mind, knowing he’s all but guaranteed a job going forward.

I know the bullpen is a volatile area of any baseball team, but for a guy coming off of such a horrific injury and just trying to work his way back, what a difference a year makes for Tim Mayza.