The ongoing evolution of Mason Fluharty
Strikeout of Ohtani at Dodger Stadium key to Blue Jays season
In hindsight, if the Blue Jays 2025 season is to go deep into October, reliever Mason Fluharty’s bases-loaded strikeout of Shohei Ohtani in the ninth inning on Sunday, may rank up there with that dramatic ninth-inning pinch-hit homer by Bo Bichette in Texas, May 28 when the Jays were in danger of dropping three games below .500.
Fluharty’s dramatic first career save, retiring Ohtani followed by another former MVP, Mookie Betts, has already been ingrained as the personal, career highlight for the situational rookie lefthander. If the Jays had lost, it would have shaken the confidence inside the clubhouse, being swept by the class of MLB, while watching as key members of L.A.’s pitching staff returns to health, casting a giant shadow over the confidence of the Jays in being able to compete when the going gets tough.
“Going out there in Dodger Stadium is like a dream,” Fluharty said in the pre-game quiet of the Jays clubhouse on Tuesday. “You feel like a celebrity out there. Everything out there is very .. it’s like, ‘This is The Show. This is the MLB. You go in there and play against the best of the best … with the Dodgers. It’s a dream come true and luckily we were able to salvage the last game there.”
How far has the 23-year-old product of Liberty University come since being ranked as the Jays’ 19th best prospect by Baseball American, entering ’25 spring training? In fact, how far has the fifth-round selection in the 2022 draft come, even since April 1?
He was not even on the opening day roster. Fluharty began the season at AAA-Buffalo, recalled upon the premature ejection of the unlamented LHP Dicky Lovelady, on March 30. Manager John Schneider suggested back then that he would ease the new kid into the majors with a couple of low-leverage situation. Not quite!
In his high-leverage debut on April 1, he entered with a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh vs. the Nationals. The first batter, CJ Abrams lashed a game-tying double to right-centre for a blown save. Welcome to The Show, kid.
His next game was April 4 and, again, was in the highest of leverage situations vs. the Mets. In relief of Kevin Gausman, with a runner on first base, trailing just 2-0, his assignment was to keep the score where it was with three innings left to score. Juan Soto doubled home a run, Pete Alonso was walked intentionally and Brandon Nimmo doubled home another. And his day was done.
Dramatically different results between those early Fluharty games and the bobbing for Adam’s apples game set, facing the best hitter in baseball, a task he succeeded at so dramatically in Chavez Ravine. Can he explain it? Has there been an evolution over those 126 days between early failure and joyous celebration. Fluharty thought about it.
“I think it was the same mindset,” the Delaware native said after a long pause, perhaps downplaying the truth, just slightly. “You just go in and try to do your job. It’s how I am as a pitcher. I’m a guy that goes out and just blacks out and trusts my work. I just go out there and execute pitches without thinking too much. I’d say that the mindset was very similar, going out there and just attacking. Trusting all the work I’ve put it and just go out there and execute pitches.”
Did he just say that he blacked out at Dodger Stadium and still executed that well? Let’s hear the spin from manager Schneider, who was one of the first to greet him as Fluharty began to come to his senses again in the handshake line in LaLa Land.
“That (early failure in April) wears on you a little bit,” Schneider said of his rookie. “It probably did over the course of his time before we sent him back down (on July 2). But I think the more you go through it the easier it gets. I think his line to me after the (Ohtani) game was, I have no idea where I am right now. I pretty much blacked out.
“You cannot speak highly enough of what Fluharty did. That is basically an impossible situation that I brought him into and he got it done. I love the fact that he didn’t give in. It’s arguably one of the best hitters…ever, so yeah, you give it your best bolt and hope it works out. Even if he walks him it’s a tie game, it’s try to get a groundball, try to get a popup. He did with a strikeout and groundball. I don’t want him to think he’s Billy Wagner now. I think that it goes a long way for him. Every time you put a guy into a big spot, you see how they respond, you see how they do.”
After an off day, it didn’t take long for Schneider to get Fluharty back on the mound again in another key situation. On Tuesday, in relief of Jose Berrios, the intense lefty retired Pete Crow-Armstrong on a flyball to right, walked walked Ian Happ and induced a groundball by Nico Hoerner to end the inning on the way to a 5-1 victory.
“It’s always going to be the same thing,” Fluharty said of his approach to each outing. “It’s when guys think too much, when I think too much is usually when it doesn’t go too well. It always comes back to just going out there and attacking. Being in the mindset to execute pitches and try to be the best you can be.”
You say you want an evolution. It may not be just one win, salvaging the final game of the Dodgers series that will be viewed as the key. Fluharty’s importance may be in stepping up to second the clear No. 1 situational lefty, Brendon Little, who seems to be running on exhaust fumes, ranking second in the AL with 56 appearances. Little, who relies heavily on hitters chasing the knuckle curve and sinker out of the zone, has already thrown 947 pitches, after 696 offerings in 2024. And it’s only Aug. 13. With a second situational lefty that he can trust, it allows the Jays, with Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker to be more flexible and creative late in games.