PALS PUSH FOR JAYS’ RELIEF JOB
Standing outside the clubhouse at Dunedin Stadium, Blue Jays general manage Ross Atkins was asked if he stays in touch with any of the guys he played with in Cleveland’s minor league system.
Atkins pulled out his phone and held it up to show who had called him that very morning. One was former Jays infielder Marco Scutaro, who played with Atkins in Columbus, Kinston and Akron. Another was ex-Toronto fan favourite John McDonald, who played with Atkins, a righthanded pitcher, in Kinston and Akron.
“Which is why I lasted for four years in the minor leagues, because I had them (up the middle),” Atkins said with a laugh.
Baseball is a unique game in many ways. One is that guys coming up in a certain system can play with each other for years in a number of towns and cities along the way to the big leagues.
Current Jays pitchers Matt Dermody and Tim Mayza have played on the same teams in Class-A Dunedin, Double-A New Hampshire, Triple-A Buffalo and now with the Blue Jays. And they’ve managed to remain best friends despite the fact they are both essentially vying for the same job.
Mayza, 26, is a 6-foot-3 lefthanded pitcher. Dermody, 27, is a 6-foot-5 lefty. Chances are, one of them will break camp with the Jays this spring and pitch middle relief out of the bullpen, while the other will be shipped down to Buffalo.
They’re competing for the same job, but they don’t look at each other as rivals. They’ve been through too much together. There’s no backstabbing or ill will.
“Matt and I have become very close. We’re actually catch partners,” Mayza said. “We’re always bouncing ideas off each other and helping each other to get better. I’m always saying, ‘How can I improve my game?’ And he says the same. It’s been a great friendship and he’s been a great friend along way
“We understand the competition of being at the same position, but we’re here to help each other out. You can only worry about what we can control as individuals and whatever happens, happens. There’s never going to be hard feelings between us. If anything, we push each other to get better every day.”
“Tim was one of the first guys I met in pro ball when I got drafted by the Blue Jays,” added Dermody. “We’ve roomed multiple times together and have spent so much time together we’re friends and I don’t think anything can come between that. Yeah, we’re competing for the same job, but at the end of the day we’re buddies.”
The Jays’ clubhouse is full of close friends who came up through the minors together. Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez (prior to their much publicized fallout). Danny Barnes and Ryan Tepera.
“Joe Biagini and ...,” Atkins said, purposely and jokingly leaving the second name blank.
Nobody is sure who the notoriously zany Biagini’s best friend is. There’s a good chance that Big Joe’s BFF is a security guard or a clubhouse mouse.
Toronto manager John Gibbons believes Dermody and Mayza are sincere when they say they’re great friends, despite the fact they’re fighting for the same gig.
“Unless you’re a turd, everybody roots for each other,” Gibbons said. “That’s how difficult it is to get (to the big leagues) and stay there. Everybody’s pulling for everybody.
“Derm got (to Toronto) a little bit quicker, but we think highly of both of them. Whether when we start the (regular) season there’s room for both of them or not ... don’t know yet. But eventually, they’re both going to get there and they’ll be teammates. It’s a great story. But they’ll be friends forever.”
Gibbons came up in the New York Mets system with a couple of other catchers he became close friends with: Ed Hearn and Barry Lyons, despite the fact they were all trying to reach the majors around the same time.
“Naw,” Gibbons said when asked if friendships fizzle out when you’re competing against each other. “You’ve got confidence in yourself. Naturally, I thought I should be the guy (that gets the call-up). They thought they should be the guy.
“And it turns out they were right,” added Gibbons with a laugh, pointing out that both Hearn and Lyons played in the majors longer than he did. “You go through the same crap together. It’s just part of it.”
Dermody and Mayza share lockers beside each other in Dunedin and Mayza said it’s comforting having a guy you grew up with in the system to talk to every day.
“It’s nice to be able to experience camp with your friends,” Mayza said. “It’s like somebody you can bounce ideas off of, you trust them. You make a lot of friends along the way. I’ve known Matt pretty much most of the way. I’ve been with Chris Rowley every year and Dusty Isaacs, Dan Jansen. It’s great.
“It’s the time that you’re in the (low minors), those are the people you remember,” Dermody added. “It’s a tough journey. But in the end, Tim’s a great guy and you can’t not like somebody who’s a great guy.”