Blue Jays pitcher serves fantasy football punishment: Tim Mayza works as batboy, wears '4-10' jersey

Edward Sutelan

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Blue Jays pitcher serves fantasy football punishment: Tim Mayza works as batboy, wears '4-10' jersey image

Tim Mayza is among baseball's best left-handed relievers. But even his veteran status couldn't protect him from having to serve a fantasy football punishment during the Blue Jays' first spring training game.

Mayza, who typically wears the No. 58 on the back of his jersey, could be seen wearing a unique number during Toronto's Saturday game: 4-10. That number happens to be his fantasy football record from 2023. 

And the jersey number wasn't the end of his punishment. He also had to serve as the batboy for the game.

MORE: Blue Jays spring training schedule & ticket info for 2024

That 4-10 mark is a brutal record for a fantasy football team, so it's certainly not surprising that Mayza wound up finishing in last place and wearing the punishment.

Come the start of the regular season, though, it's safe to say the Blue Jays will be ready to stop giving him a hard time considering just how valuable he is to the team.

Tim Mayza career stats

Mayza always has posted solid peripheral numbers, even though his ERA has looked rough at times. He had a 6.88 ERA as a rookie in 2017 and 4.91 in 2019. But every other season, he's had an ERA at or below 3.40. (He did not pitch in 2020 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery.)

His FIP (fielding independent pitching) indicates a reliable arm, as it has jumped above 4.00 just once across his six seasons on the mound.

Mayza had his best season in 2023. In a career-best 53.1 innings, he posted an ERA of 1.52, the sixth-lowest for any pitcher with at least 50 innings.

Year G IP ERA FIP K% BB% AVG WHIP
2017 19 17 6.88 2.98 34.2% 5.1% .320 1.65
2018 37 35.2 3.28 3.38 26.5% 9.3% .244 1.32
2019 68 51.1 4.91 4.73 24.2% 11.9% .226 1.40
2021 61 53 3.40 3.09 27.1% 5.7% .205 0.98
2022 63 48.2 3.14 3.98 22.8% 6.2% .233 1.11
2023 69 53.1 1.52 2.60 24.7% 7% .250 1.22
Career 317 259 3.47 3.51 25.7% 7.8% .238 1.23

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.