Timothy Gerard Mayza (born January 15, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the New York Yankees organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Tim Mayza
Mayza with the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2016
New York Yankees
Pitcher
Born: (1992-01-15) January 15, 1992 (age 32)
Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
MLB debut
August 15, 2017, for the Toronto Blue Jays
MLB statistics
(through June 28, 2024)
Win–loss record20–8
Earned run average3.87
Strikeouts292
Teams

High school and college

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Mayza played baseball, basketball, and soccer for Upper Perkiomen High School in Red Hill, Pennsylvania.[1] As a sophomore, he threw a no-hitter.[1] In his final high school season, Mayza pitched to a 5–3 win–loss record, 2.73 earned run average (ERA), and 53 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched.[2] He signed a letter of intent to attend Millersville University of Pennsylvania in November 2009.[2] In 2012, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[3] In his final year with Millersville, Mayza posted an 11–3 record, 1.55 ERA, and 91 strikeouts in 9823 innings.[4][5]

Professional career

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Toronto Blue Jays

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Mayza was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 12th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft. He received a $100,000 signing bonus and was assigned to the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Blue Jays to begin his professional career.[6][7] After three appearances in the Gulf Coast League, Mayza was promoted to the Rookie Advanced Bluefield Blue Jays of the Appalachian League. Mayza made 13 total appearances in 2013 and posted a 1–4 record, 7.76 ERA, and 27 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched.[7] In 2014, he split time between Bluefield and the Low–A Vancouver Canadians. In 2623 innings, Mayza worked to a 2–4 record, 6.75 ERA, and 20 strikeouts.

Mayza pitched the entire 2015 season with the Single–A Lansing Lugnuts. He made 26 appearances for the Lugnuts, and posted a 3–2 record, 3.07 ERA, and 62 strikeouts in 5523 innings pitched.[7] Mayza continued to progress through the Blue Jays organization, beginning the 2016 season with the High–A Dunedin Blue Jays. In June, he earned a promotion to the Double–A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, where he finished the year. Mayza made a career-high 42 pitching appearances in 2016 and went 3–3 with a 2.25 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 64 total innings.[7] On January 19, 2017, Mayza was invited to Major League spring training.[8] He was assigned to Double-A New Hampshire to begin the 2017 season. After 29 appearances, Mayza was promoted to the Triple–A Buffalo Bisons. He made 11 relief appearances, posting a 0.93 ERA, before his first promotion to the Majors.[9]

On August 14, 2017, Mayza was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[9] He made his major league debut on August 15, pitching a scoreless 9th inning in a 6–4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays and recording his first major league strikeout against Peter Bourjos.[10] Mayza was credited with his first major league win on September 12, when he pitched the bottom half of the 9th inning before the Blue Jays walked off the Baltimore Orioles 3–2.[11]

Mayza split the 2018 season between the major leagues and the Buffalo Bisons. In 37 games for the Blue Jays, he posted a 2–0 record with a 3.28 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 3523 innings.[12]

On September 13, 2019, in the 10th inning in a game against the New York Yankees, Mayza threw a pitch behind Didi Gregorius and immediately crumpled to the ground in pain. The next day, it was revealed he had torn his UCL and would undergo Tommy John surgery.[13] In 68 relief outings for Toronto in 2019, he compiled a 4.91 ERA with 55 strikeouts across 51+13 innings of work. Mayza was outrighted off the Blue Jays roster on November 20, 2019.[14] He spent all of 2020 recovering from the surgery.

On April 1, 2021, Mayza was selected to the 40-man roster.[15] That year, he recorded a 3.40 ERA and 57 strikeouts across 61 appearances for Toronto. On September 28, 2022, Mayza gave up Aaron Judge’s 61st home run, tying an American League record. He made 63 total appearances for the Blue Jays in 2022, compiling an 8–1 record and 3.14 ERA with 44 strikeouts across 48+23 innings pitched.[16]

On January 13, 2023, Mayza signed a one-year, $2.1 million contract with the Blue Jays, avoiding salary arbitration.[17] He made 69 appearances for Toronto in 2023, compiling a 1.52 ERA with 53 strikeouts across 53+13 innings of work.

Mayza began the 2024 campaign out of Toronto's bullpen, and struggled to an 8.03 ERA with 16 strikeouts across 24+23 innings pitched.[18] On June 29, 2024, Mayza was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays.[19] He was released by the organization on July 5.[20]

New York Yankees

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On July 10, 2024, Mayza signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees.[21]

Personal life

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Mayza is the eldest of four children born to Jerry and Marlene Mayza.[1] His father played NCAA Division III basketball for Allentown College, and his sister Deanna plays basketball for the University of Hartford.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Millersville Athletics - Tim Mayza - 2013". millersvilleathletics.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Grumling, Darryl (November 19, 2009). "Upper Perk's Mayza heads for Millersville". pottsmerc.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  3. ^ "#30 Tim Mayza". pointstreak.com. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  4. ^ Quatrani, Ernie (June 12, 2013). "Mayza to Play for Blue Jays". upvnews.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  5. ^ "Tim Mayza 2013 Millersville Statistics". millersvilleathletics.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  6. ^ "2013 MLB Draft Database - Toronto Blue Jays". baseballamerica.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d "Tim Mayza Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  8. ^ "Toronto Blue Jays Transactions in January 2017". MLB.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Blue Jays promote reliever Tim Mayza from triple-A". Sportsnet. August 14, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  10. ^ Buffery, Steve (August 17, 2017). "Having college coach at MLB debut meant the world to battler Mayza". Toronto Sun. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  11. ^ "Blue Jays mount late comeback in walk-off win over Orioles". Sportsnet. September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  12. ^ "Tim Mayza Stats". Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  13. ^ "Tim Mayza Out For 2020 With Torn UCL". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  14. ^ "Blue Jays DFA Justin Shafer, Outright Tim Mayza". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  15. ^ "Blue Jays Outright Reese McGuire, Breyvic Valera". April 4, 2021.
  16. ^ "Tim Mayza 2022 pitching Stats Per Game - MLB". espn.com. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  17. ^ "2023 MLB Arbitration Tracker". MLBTradeRumors. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  18. ^ "Blue Jays shut down closer Jordan Romano, cut Tim Mayza". ESPN.com. Associated Press. June 29, 2024. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  19. ^ "Press release: Blue Jays roster moves". Major League Baseball.
  20. ^ "Blue Jays Release Tim Mayza". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  21. ^ "Yankees move rookie Ben Rice to cleanup spot in lineup shakeup". ESPN.com. July 10, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  22. ^ Buffery, Steve (March 3, 2017). "Flamethrowing Toronto Blue Jays prospect Tim Mayza has 'a chance to be really, really good'". news.nationalpost.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
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