Anatomy of a no-no: A closer look at Jays prospect Zeuch’s gem

TORONTO — Three outs at a time was as far as T.J. Zeuch would let his mind wander.

The 24-year-old right-hander threw the first no-hitter for the Buffalo Bisons in more than 22 years Monday night in Rochester, N.Y., leading the Toronto Blue Jays’ triple-A baseball affiliate to a 3-0 win over the Rochester Red Wings at Frontier Field.

The last man to accomplish the feat? Four-time Major League Baseball all-star and 2005 American League Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon on June 20, 1997, when the Bisons were affiliated with the Cleveland Indians.

If Zeuch knew he was following in Big Sexy’s footsteps on Monday, he didn’t let on.

“I’d come back into the dugout, I’d just tell myself, ‘OK, you’ve got to go for three more,’” he said Tuesday. “‘Keep doing that, we’re in a good spot.’”

It was a methodical approach from the former first-round draft pick, Toronto’s current No. 17 prospect who will be one of the many pitchers to via for a spot in the Jays’ rotation in future. But, like any good no-no, there was some magic to the night, as well.

Zeuch was pitching to catcher Beau Taylor, claimed off waivers from the Oakland Athletics on Friday, for the first time. It was Taylor’s second night behind the dish for the Bisons and the pair clicked immediately.

Taylor learned on the fly how Zeuch’s stuff moved and played to certain hitters and which pitches to call in certain counts. Zeuch shook him off just once or twice.

But the pairing wasn’t without its kinks and Zeuch crossed Taylor up with one out in the ninth, hitting the catcher on the wrist and causing any injury delay.

“He called for a backdoor curveball, but when he moved his fingers over, because of the shadows, I could only see the one finger,” Zeuch said. “And to make things worse I yanked the fastball.”

The cross-up was only the beginning of a nervy ninth. It took a superman dive from Jonathan Davis in centre field to get the second out, a ball Zeuch initially thought was going to drop when the liner went off the Red Wings’ Ian Miller’s bat.

“But then I turned around and ... I saw JD’s eyes kind of light up and he started sprinting in, and I knew right then he was going to catch it,” Zeuch said.

It was Zeuch who made the final play, when Rochester’s third baseman Drew Maggi grounded out on a soft comebacker.

“It was a pretty fitting end, a ground-ball guy gets a ground ball back to himself to finish it off,” Zeuch said. “I kind of went blank after I caught it. I think the only thought that I had was, ‘Don’t flip it over his head.’”

It was only when Bisons first baseman Jordan Patterson threw his hands up in the air in celebration that Zeuch, overcome with emotion, realized he had done it.

He used 114 pitches, striking out just three batters but inducing 15 ground outs. Davis’s play was the only defensive effort that didn’t look routine for the Bisons fielders. A walk in the third inning and a hit batter in the eighth separated Zeuch from a perfect game.

The no-hitter marks a turnaround for Zeuch. The six-footseven starter suffered a lat strain in spring training that kept him out of the Bisons rotation until June 22. He gave up no runs on two hits in his season debut, but conceded at least two runs in each of his next eight starts, touched up for four or more runs five times.

“I think once I got up here I was a little worried about trying to be too good, trying to do too well too fast, so I altered my delivery inadvertently,” Zeuch said.

Zeuch feels his mechanics are back to where they were in 2018, when he had a 3.08 earned-run average in 21 starts for double-A New Hampshire.