Tag Archives: Mike Mayers

30 May

almost perfekt

The Kansas City Royals took a flier in the off-season on Mike Mayers, signing the former Ole Miss standout to a minor league deal after he had posted a 6.88 ERA in Triple-A last season. It is beginning to look like a smart move. In his third appearance for the Royals since a May 17 promotion, Mayers threw six perfect innings in relief on Monday before yielding a couple of hits in K.C.’s 7-0 win at St. Louis. The 31-year-old right-hander now has a 1.35 ERA in 13 1/3 innings. Coincidentally, Mayers made his MLB debut for the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in July 2016. He has good memories from his four years in St. Louis, but that outing — nine runs in 1 1/3 innings — wasn’t one of them. Waived by the Cardinals in 2019, he spent three seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, won a pitcher of the month award in September 2020, struggled mightily in 2022 and finished the year in the minors, becoming a free agent at season’s end. “My story hasn’t always been easy,” he told the Kansas City Star after Monday’s performance. He relieved opener Josh Staumont in the second inning and carried a perfect game into the eighth before a Nolan Arenado single broke it up. Two other relievers closed out the two-hitter. P.S. Kudos to Michael Soroka, the former Mississippi Braves ace who returned to the big leagues with Atlanta on Monday for the first time since 2020. The injury-plagued right-hander threw six relatively sharp innings, allowing four runs in the travel-weary Braves’ 7-2 loss at Oakland. … Former Southern Miss star Matt Wallner was optioned to Triple-A for the third time this year by Minnesota. … William Carey University is 2-0 in the NAIA World Series after a 13-4 win against Southeastern (Fla.) on Monday. The Crusaders play Westmont (Calif.) tonight in Lewiston, Idaho.

22 Apr

you’re up one day …

A snapshot into the mercurial life of a major league relief pitcher: On Tuesday in Anaheim, former Ole Miss pitcher Mike Mayers was summoned from the Los Angeles Angels’ bullpen in the seventh inning with one out and a Texas runner at third. In his first game in a week, he struck out the first batter, but the second, Joey Gallo, a lefty slugger facing a shift, laid down a squeeze bunt up the third-base line for a hit. The runner scored, cutting the Angels’ lead to 3-2. After he struck out ex-Mississippi State standout Nate Lowe to end the inning, Mayers barked at Gallo, apparently miffed about the bunt. Mayers worked a 1-2-3 eighth, trimming his ERA to 0.93, and the Angels won the game 6-2. On Wednesday, Mayers was summoned in the eighth with one out, a runner on first and the Angels again up 3-1. Gallo was the first batter. He walked on a 3-2 pitch. The next batter, Adolis Garcia, hit a three-run bomb. Lowe followed with another homer. Mayers trudged off, his ERA suddenly swollen to 3.72, and the Angels lost the game 7-4. Mayers has had a good year to date. He has a win, two holds and a save. He had allowed only one homer in his first eight appearances. Then came Wednesday. His next appearance will be interesting to watch.

20 Sep

on bright side

Somewhat lost in the disappointment that has been the Los Angeles Angels’ 2020 season is the emergence of former Ole Miss star Mike Mayers as an effective bullpen arm. Mayers, in his first season with the Angels, threw two clean innings on Saturday night and picked up the win as his club, now 23-30, rallied past Texas 4-3. Mayers (2-0) now has a 1.80 ERA over 25 appearances; the 28-year-old right-hander has allowed just one earned run in his last 15 games. Mayers spent the first four years of his MLB career with St. Louis, which drafted him out of UM in the third round in 2013. His big league debut in 2016 was cringe-worthy — nine earned runs in 1 1/3 innings as a starter against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday Night Baseball — and he never found any consistency with the Cards. He had a 7.03 ERA in 73 games. But the Angels saw something they liked and claimed Mayers on waivers after last season. Working with new Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway, another ex-Rebels star, Mayers apparently has found something. … Coincidentally, Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn got the start for Texas in Saturday’s game and pitched well — again — only to see his team lose — again. Lynn’s excellent work — he is 6-2 with a 2.53 ERA in 12 starts — has been wasted on an 18-34 team.

24 Jul

history and numbers

Baseball loves its history and its numbers, the good, the bad and the ugly. Much to Mike Mayers’ chagrin, he made history with some ugly numbers on this date – July 24 – two years ago. In his big league debut for St. Louis, the former Ole Miss standout allowed nine runs on eight hits – two of them homers — plus two walks in 1 1/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. That’s an ERA of 60.90. It was statistically the worst debut ever for a pitcher, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Mayers became the first player to allow nine or more earned runs in fewer than two innings in his first appearance since earned runs became a stat in 1912. From that humbling start, Mayers has evolved into a fairly reliable reliever for the Cardinals. In 29 appearances this season, the right-hander – who hits the upper 90s on the gun – has a 3.86 ERA, a 2-1 record and a save. He was up and down from Triple-A numerous times in the season’s first two months, but he has stuck since his June 8 recall and carved out a role in the bullpen. New Cards manager Mike Shildt, who took over July 15, has gone to Mayers in key situations. It’d be only fitting for Mayers to get into today’s game at Cincinnati, an anniversary gift of sorts. Baseball also loves that kind of thing.

01 Jun

shuttle run

Meanwhile, back in St. Louis, there’s Mike Mayers, picking up a win for the Cardinals, the beneficiary of a five-run ninth inning capped by Yairo Munoz’s walk-off homer that beat Pittsburgh 10-8 on Thursday night. Former Ole Miss star Mayers is 2-0 with a 2.40 ERA in 11 relief appearances for the Cards. Funny thing is, those 11 appearances are spread over six different stints with St. Louis. Mayers, who first made the big leagues in 2016, still has options. What that means is, the Cardinals can option him to the minors this season as many times as they see fit. They have seen fit to do so five times. And it’s only June. Mayers was sent to Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, joining the Redbirds in New Orleans, then was recalled on Thursday as an injury replacement and flew back to St. Louis. He entered Thursday’s game in the eighth, got the final out in that inning and worked a 1-2-3 ninth. The rally that followed may have seemed a bit like déjà vu for Mayers. His other win, on May 6, also came via a walk-off homer. After a strong winter league showing and a good spring, Mayers began the 2018 season on the Cardinals’ 25-man roster. On April 9, he was optioned to Memphis for the first time, and the shuttle run began. “If anything,” Mayers told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after Thursday’s game, “this season has taught us that baseball is crazy.”

29 Nov

ugly number

When last we saw Mike Mayers in a big league game — for St. Louis on Aug. 18 — he was giving up four earned runs in 2/3 of an inning against Pittsburgh. That moved the Ole Miss product’s career ERA in seven appearances to 19.80, not what you wanna see on the back of your baseball card. That ugly number is due mostly to a couple of bad outings. But it is what it is. The Cardinals still have Mayers on their 40-man roster, and he has pitched well in winter ball. Through six starts for Escogido in the Dominican Winter League, Mayers is 2-1 with a 2.43 ERA. After a 12-day layoff, he threw five innings of one-hit, one-run ball on Tuesday. A third-round pick out of UM in 2013, Mayers, 25, has a career minor league ERA of 3.54. Only once in his five minor league seasons has he finished with an ERA above 3.39. He went 5-6 with a 3.28 in 2017 at Triple-A Memphis, splitting time between starting and relieving. He was up for three big league appearances, including that ERA wrecker on Aug. 18. He has to be champing at the bit for his next shot. P.S. Picayune native and Ole Miss alum Braxton Lee, the Southern League batting champ last season, recently was added to Miami’s 40-man roster, and ex-Madison Central High standout Spencer Turnbull made Detroit’s protected roster. Former UM star Bobby Wahl, who made his MLB debut with Oakland in 2017, has been removed from the A’s 40-man. Right-hander Wahl was injured (shoulder) in midseason and didn’t pitch after July 31.

24 Jul

debut alert

Ole Miss alum Mike Mayers is slated to make his major league debut for St. Louis tonight at Busch Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yes, it’s the ESPN game. Mayers, a 6-foot-3 right-hander, was 3-3 with a 2.94 ERA at Triple-A Memphis. A third-round pick in 2013, he started this season at Double-A Springfield, going 5-2, 2.30. Mayers, who is not ranked among the Cardinals’ top 30 prospects by mlb.com, had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in 2015.