The weapon that helped revive the prime of Phillies veteran Tim Mayza

34-year-old Tim Mayza is throwing as hard as he ever has in his career. Remarkably, after spending two years on the proverbial trash pile, hopping from club to club, Mayza has reinvented himself as a wily, grizzled veteran, “The Sheriff” of the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen.

Following the best season of his career in 2023, when Mayza appeared in 69 games and pitched to a 1.52 ERA, he regressed into a shell of his former self. His sinker lost nearly a full mile per hour of velocity, and just as disastrous was the loss of depth on his slider. The vertical movement that had formerly made his sinker play so well off his secondary offerings regressed by more than an inch and a half. Mayza’s whiff rate on his slider fell from 26.4% to 17.9%, and on his sinker from 21.7% to 16.5%. It looked like the end of a career.

After being released by the Toronto Blue Jays, the team that had drafted him 11 years prior, Mayza was kicked around MLB. He signed with the New York Yankees, then was non-tendered at the end of 2024. The Pittsburgh Pirates signed him to a major league deal, then put him on waivers in August 2025 when he inked a minor league deal with the Phillies.

In a brief showing at the end of the 2025 season, Mayza was effective, if unimpressive. He had regained some of the velocity on his fastball, and his whiff rate had recovered, though only partially. But no one came calling in the offseason, so Allentown-born Mayza returned to his boyhood club on a minor league deal.

“Obviously, geographically it makes perfect sense, being from the area and kind of growing up a Philly fan,” he said in April. “I had an incredible experience towards the end of last year coming over here and being around the coaching staff and the team, so it's a really great environment.”

Just How Elite is Tim Mayza's Sinker?

That familiarity and the work he put in with pitching coach Caleb Cotham paid off. Mayza’s sinker is averaging 94.2 mph, a 1.7 mph increase from two seasons ago. That slight velo bump has made it one of MLB’s most devastating pitches.

Among all sinkers across the league, it ranks seventh in total run value behind Sandy Alcantara, Tyler Rogers, Drew Rasmussen, Josh Hader, Spencer Miles, and Nolan McLean. Of the pitchers on that list, only Hader has thrown fewer sinkers.

“Cotham and the pitching group in general just have done a great job of communicating, helping me,” Mayza told Alec Kostoval of Philly Sports Network. “Maybe try some new grips, try some new fill-out processes when throwing it. [It] has allowed for the shape to be where I hope it would be and then more consistent.”

Given the lack of depth right now at the back end of the bullpen, Mayza has taken on a larger role than envisioned at the beginning of the season. While the Phillies have preferred using José Alvarado in higher-leverage situations against lefties, Mayza has nevertheless slowly worked his way up the depth chart.

He doesn’t quite have the stuff to handle the types of left-handed hitters the Phillies will face in the playoffs: Matt Olson, Shohei Ohtani, Pete Crow-Armstrong, etc. Mayza’s secondary offerings rank towards the bottom half of the league, but someone out of the ‘pen will need to take down hitters of that caliber in October.

If Mayza does get that chance in a high-leverage moment during a playoff game, the Phillies will hope he leans on the teachings of Cotham and that the 34-year-old is able to rear back and throw like he’s in his prime once again.

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