Feeling healthy again, Tim Mayza — and family — excited about next chapter with hometown club

MILWAUKEE — New Phillies relievers Tim Mayza and Lou Trivino have a long history together. “Pretty much from the time we both picked up a baseball,” Mayza said. Save for a few months together on the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League’s Quakertown Blazers, they never shared a team, but they played against each other from Little League on. “Pretty much every step of the way,” Mayza said, “we knew where each other was.”

They know again now: side-by-side in Philadelphia’s bullpen. Mayza fielded questions from reporters at American Family Field on Monday, less than 24 hours after getting claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“As much of a whirlwind as it’s been,” Mayza said, “it’s been just as exciting to come here and join a club that’s in the thick of chasing down the NL East pennant.”

That’s what Mayza, who relies primarily on a low-to-mid-90s sinker and high-to-mid-80s slider, will do for the last month of the regular season and, ideally, into October. 

The young Mayza looked up to fellow left-handers Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee on his hometown team’s superb pitching staffs of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Soon, he’ll take the mound at Citizens Bank Park, a little over an hour by car from his Upper Perkiomen High School.

He knows it’ll be a different feeling from when he last pitched there — May 8, 2024, a game he held and Jordan Romano saved for Toronto — and he knows it’ll mean a good deal for his family, who he said is “pumped” to have him close to home. 

He’ll take in the scene for a second or two. Maybe not much longer. 

“There’s also a job to do,” Mayza said: “Make quality pitches and get outs. So as nice as it’ll be, it’ll probably be nicer for family to take it in.”

Mayza could have an under-the-radar important role in October, given his profile and the likely postseason roster construction. He told reporters on Monday he has no preference for what that role looks like, or whether his role is a defined one in the first place.

Regardless, Mayza is confident he can contribute. He strained his lat in April and made four rehab outings in late August: five hits, one run, six strikeouts, 4 2/3 innings. The third of those appearances spanned two innings. 

“I felt like that was probably the biggest thing I was looking forward to, was how I was bouncing back from that,” Mayza said of the six-out appearance on Aug. 26. “Everything’s been going great. The recovery’s been great. The stuff is where I like it to be and feel like the ball’s coming out pretty good right now.”

Beyond the difficulty of facing them — he allowed two runs in two-thirds of an inning in Philadelphia the day before that aforementioned hold — along with Trivino and Romano, Mayza isn’t too acquainted with his new clubhouse yet. Those familiar faces are making it a smoother landing, as far as day-to-day operations and scheduling are concerned. He caught up with manager Rob Thomson about how his rehab has gone, with pitching coach Caleb Cotham about pitch mix and the like. 

But he’s got people still to meet. He hasn’t had much time for formalities yet. Mayza was in Indianapolis, scheduled for another rehab outing, when he got the call that the Phillies were adding him. There was a wait to figure out next steps, a flight from Indianapolis to Chicago, a car service from Chicago to Milwaukee on Sunday night. 

Finally in Milwaukee’s visitor’s dugout, a week from returning to Philadelphia, Mayza laughed about it all.

“Being somebody who grew up a Phillies fan and finally being able to put the uniform on and be in the organization, I’m excited,” Mayza said. “Been a whirlwind 24 hours, but definitely excited to be here.

“I feel good and ready to honestly contribute any way they want to use me.”