With the Blue Jays leading 10-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning yesterday against Cincinnati, the Reds decided to stop dipping into their pitching corps and put backup catcher Luke Maile on the mound to close out the contest. A right-handed thrower, the 33-year-old wasn’t lighting up the radar – his fastball averaged out at 66.5 MPH – but he was one of the more successful arms on the night, retiring all six Blue Jays batters he faced while mixing in a knuckleball on occasion to keep Toronto hitters off balance and chasing pitches out of the zone. Maile had made a mound appearance three days ago to similar results – pitching a scoreless inning against the Kansas City Royals.

For his career, this was Maile’s ninth appearance on the mound and the second time this season he has been called into action for the Reds. His single-season high is four, which he amassed last season for Cincinnati as well. Looking back in the history books, Maile never pitched in the minor leagues nor did he appear on the mound for the University of Kentucky before turning pro. It was the Toronto Blue Jays who first gave the Kentucky product a shot on the mound in 2019.

The Blue Jays claimed Maile off of waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays early into the 2017 season and over the next three seasons, he would work mainly as the club’s backup catcher while Russell Martin and Danny Jansen got most of the reps. Through three seasons with Toronto, Maile authored a .193/.257/.293 slash line with a .550 OPS through 158 games while throwing out 39 base runners from behind home plate.

The first time the Jays called upon Maile for an appearance on the mound was May 5, 2019. The Jays were rebuilding and struggling early in the season when the Rangers were pounding Toronto in Arlington, leading 10-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth. With manager Charlie Montoyo looking to conserve some bullpen arms, Maile was called upon to work the bottom half of the late-inning and put up a gem of an outing – one of the best innings of the game from any Jays arm.

The first batter he faced was fellow catcher Jeff Mathis, who after battling to a 1-1 count, was able to get a groundball to shortstop for the first out of the inning. Looking to continue the hot start, Maile found himself in a full count with Delino DeShields but emerged victorious, getting the centre fielder to line out to right field for the second out of the inning. With two outs on the board and looking to set the stage for a comeback (which did not happen), Maile was tasked with facing the leadoff hitter in Shin Shoo-Choo, a player Jays fans know all too well from the seventh-inning fiasco back in the 2015 playoff run. Looking to play the hero, Maile got the upper hand in a 2-2 count and got Choo to swing and miss on an 87 MPH heater down in the zone – the first strikeout of his career.

While the Jays may have lost that game to the Rangers, that eighth inning with the Blue Jays kickstarted Maile’s career as an emergency pitcher – one that his him owning a 7.89 ERA through 10 1/3 innings.