TORONTO — It’s hard to imagine a more daunting situation for Tommy Nance to face upon entering Sunday’s game at Rogers Centre.
The Milwaukee Brewers loaded the bases in the fifth inning, helped by a pair of fielding miscues from reliever Brendon Little, and the train was on the verge of veering off the rails for the Toronto Blue Jays, who were clinging to a 5-4 lead.
The pressure was amplified because the home side needed a win to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Brewers. Furthermore, the Blue Jays’ bullpen struggles had been central to losses on Friday and Saturday, while the club’s lead over the second-place New York Yankees in the American League East had shrunk to two games entering Sunday’s play.
Talk about a tough assignment for Nance.
“He was in a real tight situation where the game could really get flipped in one way or the other,” said Max Scherzer, who started for the Blue Jays on Sunday and was removed after four innings.
Nance attacked the strike zone with his slider immediately, getting ahead 0-2 on Brewers first baseman Andrew Vaughn. After another slider, down-and-away, the right-hander got Vaughn to swing and miss on a pretty curveball in the same spot.
Up next was Isaac Collins, the Brewers’ impressive rookie. Nance used his trusty curve to induce a grounder to shortstop Bo Bichette, who completed the out to end the jam and bring the crowd of 41,488 to its feet.
“It was fun,” Nance said after the game. “I love being put in those situations and I definitely was on a little bit of a high. But, I also knew there’s a chance I might go back out, so I had to stay composed.”
It was easily the most important inning of Nance’s season and, perhaps, of his brief major-league career. It set the tone for the Blue Jays’ relief corps, which combined to toss five scoreless in the eventual 8-4 win.
“Bases loaded, one out, you’re counting on at least one strikeout, and he got it,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “So, going forward, we want him to go out and just keep doing what he’s doing. And, if it’s a different spot some nights, he’s earned that trust.”
Schneider has mostly used Nance in low-leverage situations this season. The 34-year-old right-hander toiled in the minors for years after going undrafted and signing with the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent. He finally made his major-league debut in 2021 with the Cubs before bouncing around to the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres.
The Blue Jays acquired Nance from San Diego last August for cash considerations, and he pitched in 20 games for the club across August and September. However, things changed for the right-hander while he was with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons earlier this year.
After a few rough outings, Nance sat down for a conversation about his repertoire with one of the Blue Jays’ pitching coordinators.
“He was like, ‘Hey, looking at your history, you don’t normally throw your curveball for strikes a lot. You use it with two strikes and you get a lot of whiffs. That’s your strikeout pitch, but your slider is in zone way more,’” recalls Nance.
He listened and then began to up the usage of his slider. Nance’s curveball has been part of his “identity” since he was 13 years old, he says, but this season he’s developed faith in his slider, which has nicely complemented his curve and sinker.
“The slider has gotten me in better counts, and I’m just trusting and using it,” said Nance.
The pitch has a Run Value of four, as measured by Baseball Savant, and Nance has thrown it 45 per cent of the time, compared to 27.8 per cent for the sinker and 27.2 for the curve. That ratio has clearly worked as he’s posted a sparkling 0.82 ERA over 22 innings with 25 strikeouts since being called up to the Blue Jays on July 11. Opponents are hitting just .177 against Nance, and in addition to the pitch mix adjustment, the right-hander has adopted a different mindset.
“I’ve tried to have this relaxed intensity all year,” said Nance. “Not let anything bother me, not get too high, not get too low. If I give up a hit, so what? I strike a guy out and I don’t get super emotional out there. I just stay even keel and I think that adds to the consistency that I’ve had.”
Such consistency helped him earn the opportunity on Sunday, and the ensuing result further informed how Schneider will elect to deploy the right-hander.
“I think he’s just realizing how good his stuff is,” said the skipper. “In terms of the life of a reliever, he’s going to see more going forward. Every spot is a little bit different. So, I think coming into spots that are pretty significant will only help him.”
Nance welcomes that idea.
“I just want to help this team any way that I’m called upon to do that,” he said. “My attitude, my mindset, doesn’t change from one situation to another. I just go out and I stick to my plan — attack.
“I had a blast out there.”
