The New York Yankees bullpen has been severely taxed of late, so in response they announced prior to Friday’s game against the Detroit Tigers that they have recalled former Toronto Blue Jays left-handed pitcher Tim Mayza and added him to the active roster.
The Yankees added Tim Mayza to the active roster
Mayza, a seven-year MLB veteran, had spent his entire career with the Blue Jays before signing a minor league deal with the Yankees in July. During his time in Toronto, he amassed a career ERA of 3.87. He is perhaps best known for giving up Aaron Judge’s 61st home run of his historic 2022 season, a swing in which tied Roger Maris for the American League single-season home run record.
2024 has been a struggle of a season for Mayza, as his strikeout numbers are way down and he is giving up a lot of home runs. His 13.2% strikeout percentage is a career-low and is a massive drop off from his 24.7% K-rate last season. He has also allowed 1.09 HR/9 after allowing a career-best 0.34 HR/9 in 2023. In addition, his 4.92 FIP is tied for the 41st-worst among all MLB relievers with at least 20 innings pitched.
The lefty Mayza could be huge for the Yankees bullpen moving forward
Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake has been known to fix pitchers with good sinkers, and the hope is that the same can happen with Mayza and he can give the bullpen some much needed insurance. The team badly needs an effective lefty, so if Mayza can turn around what has been a dreadful season for him, that will be huge for New York moving forward.
With how much the bullpen has been used up, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the veteran Mayza be used in some high-leverage situations, though he will likely start out in a long relief setting to get accustomed to pitching to Yankee catchers. Regardless, Mayza is a low-risk, high-reward addition that could serve as a great impact to their bullpen moving forward.