After World Series appearance, Mayza looks to help Bucs

As Tim Mayza reflects on last season, he shakes his head in amazement about how he went from the worst season of his major league career to winding up pitching in the World Series.

After being drafted by Toronto and spending seven seasons in the majors with the Blue Jays, the left-handed reliever was released in early July after compiling an 8.03 ERA in 36 appearances.

Mayza signed with the New York Yankees and made three playoff appearances, including the ninth inning of their Game 4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

“A whirlwind, honestly,” Mayza said. “For most of the season last year, I wouldn’t call it fun. You go from getting released by an organization you spent 11 years with, then I had an opportunity to get picked up by the Yankees. Last year was kind of a crazy year for me. I don’t think I would’ve ever imagined pitching in a World Series.”

Mayza, 33, hopes to rejuvenate his career after signing a one-year, $1.15 million deal with the Pirates. He has held opponents to a .217 batting average against and allowed earned runs in only one of his six appearances this spring. Mayza has posted three consecutive scoreless appearances, including 1 1/3 innings Sunday at the Yankees.

The hiccup, however, saw Mayza give up a double, a walk and a three-run home run to Jahmai Jones in twothirds of an inning against the Detroit Tigers on March 3. His ERA blew up to 10.13 but has since been reduced to 4.50 in Grapefruit League play.

Not only does Mayza bring postseason experience with both the Blue Jays and Yankees but also a sinker-slider combination from the left side that can complement righty sinkerballer Colin Holderman.

Mayza posted a 2.67 ERA in 193 appearances between 2021-23, which ranked third behind Josh Hader (2.45) and Matt Moore (2.57) among all left-handed relievers with at least 120 innings pitched in MLB in that span. He made a career-high 69 appearances and posted the third-lowest ERA (1.52) among all American League relievers, behind Chris Martin (1.05) and Felix Bautista (1.48).

Mayza was especially effective against left-handed hitters, who slashed .244/.298/.314 against him last season. But righties have slashed .281/.349/.471 with 40 doubles and 24 homers over his career. So, he came to spring training trying to use his slider to find a balance.

“There’s a way I’ve been able to attack left-handed hitters. Over the past few years, righties have tended to do more damage,” Mayza said. “How can I either manipulate usage or change usage to keep righties off abalance and to manage those guys and still get lefties out at a decent clip?”

Mayza’s confidence was shaken when he followed a 1.52 ERA in 2023 with struggles last year. His average fastball velocity dipped from 93.4 mph to 92.5 mph and his strikeout rate from 24.7% to 14.4% when the Blue Jays cut Mayza and the Yankees picked him up.

“Step one was to gain some velocity back. Step two was to perform to be able to help the big-league club,” Mayza said. “Just being there and seeing Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver have success, Jake Cousins and Tommy Kahnle going out there and throwing 40-some straight changeups. It’s like, why are we doing this? Is it more your strength? Is it a combination of your strength over a weakness?”

What Mayza learned in the meeting rooms was to simplify his game plan. The attack is the attack. Get ahead in the count and when you get to two strikes, take your shot.

“With those more powerful lineups, you’re attacking smaller areas,” Mayza sad. “I don’t think you’re shying away from your strengths, but the margin for error is just a little smaller, so you’ve got to attack smaller areas.”

Mayza went 0-1 with a 4.00 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 15 appearances for the Yankees, then pitched two-thirds of an inning in their Game 2 loss to the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS and Game 3 loss to Cleveland in the ALCS before closing out the Game 4 11-4 win in the World Series.

That’s something he wants to share with the Pirates.

“It wasn’t the highest-leverage situations, but being on the roster and being able to experience those guys in high-leverage roles and see how they’re attacking hitters in those leverage innings is valuable,” Mayza said. “Just being able to talk to guys who haven’t experienced it and share knowledge is all you’re doing.

“It’s hard to manipulate that experience without actually being there, but talking about what it was like and how you were able to get there and navigate those lineups and get guys out is good stuff. That’s what these guys and this team aspire to be — a playoff team. Goal one is to win as many ballgames as you can, but knowing what you get into when the time does come and being able to pitch in those leverage opportunities.”