Conversations with the Herd: Blue Jays Relief Pitcher Mason Fluharty

By: Brian Frank

Blue Jays reliever Mason Fluharty thought he’d be pitching for Buffalo this season, but an early season phone call changed everything. Fluharty, who came out of the Bisons’ bullpen a team-high 56 times last season, was dining at a popular Queen City restaurant after the Bisons’ second game of the season when he received word he was headed to the big leagues.

“I was at Allen Burger with Hayden Juenger and my wife,” Fluharty recalled in a recent interview with The Herd Chronicles. “I just had some chicken wings from there and I went to the bathroom and my phone was going off. I saw it on my watch, but I left my phone at the table. I hurried out. I saw it was from Casey (Bisons manager Casey Candaele). I ran out of the bathroom and Juenger’s throwing me my phone and my wife's like, ‘Answer it, answer it!’”

“He told me I was getting called up,” the left-hander continued. “It was a whole whirlwind, getting up here (to Toronto) that night. But yeah, it was awesome. It was definitely a shock. I didn't even throw in Buffalo. So that was the whirlwind of it all. I didn't throw in any game for like a week and a half, and then my first one’s in the big league.”

Fluharty has a 2.37 ERA in 19 IP.

Three years ago, Fluharty was pitching in the Atlantic Sun Conference at Liberty University. Now, he’s facing players he grew up watching on TV – like Juan Soto, Rafael Devers, Alex Bregman, and Jose Altuve. The 23-year-old credits a conversation he had with veteran reliever Jeff Hoffman with helping him stay focused when facing baseball’s biggest stars.

“He kind of just said, go out there and think lefty, righty, because these are the big superstars you grew up watching,” Fluharty explained. “Ever since he told me that, I just go out there and think they're a lefty or a righty – and go throw your game. Not think that you have to be better than them, even though they're the best of the best in the world. Just go out there and compete, because my stuff's going to play and just go be you. That was the biggest advice I got – and I kind of rolled with it. Every time I get a big name in the box, I don't think, oh, it's Juan Soto or Alex Bregman. I stick as a lefty and a righty, and I'm just going to go attack and be me.”

Just a month and a half into his major-league career, Fluharty has already pitched at iconic baseball venues like Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, and Camden Yards.

“It happened so fast,” he said when asked if he’s ever in awe of some of the ballparks he’s pitched in. “You're there for a three-game series. You get on a plane, you get there, you don't really have time to soak it all in. I mean, when my family came out to some of the stadiums, yeah, then you’re kind of like, oh, this is really cool. But honestly, it happened so fast that you can't really sit there and soak it all in. Unless you have an off day. Unless you have an off day in in the city. Then you can really be like, oh, this is cool. Like, we're in New York, this is awesome. But yeah, I'd say it just happens really fast, and you just go out there and try to do your job every day and focus on that. I don't really focus on the other things. I think I'm going to look back and probably regret not soaking it more in, but at the end of the day I'm trying to do my job to the best of my ability and compete at the highest level.”

Recording his first big-league strikeout.

The Milton, Delaware native believes he’s benefitted from having two veteran backstops behind the plate in Toronto to help him navigate his way through his rookie season.

“Obviously, I’ve got one of the best catchers in the league behind the plate, Kirky (Alejandro Kirk), and he's on the same page at all times with me,” Fluharty said. “And you get Heiney (Tyler Heineman) in there sometimes – and Heiney’s, just the same. He's on the same page with all of us. Having them behind there, it's a blessing.  I’m just very thankful for them and how I'm competing up here.”

Fluharty has become a more complete pitcher since first stepping on the Sahlen Field mound last spring.

“Being able to command my cutter to both sides of the plate,” he said of how he’s improved. “I think that was the biggest step. Last year, I really tried to hone in on it and I did it pretty well. But I feel like this year it comes a little bit more maturing to be able to do it on command and understanding when to throw back door, when to bust guys in on their hands and just move the ball on both sides of the plate, and understanding how to pitch. Because up here you’ve got to know how to pitch. If you don't know how to pitch, you're not going to make it. That’s the biggest thing.”

Fluharty, the Blue Jays’ fifth round pick in the 2022 draft, is finally starting to come to the realization that he’s a major leaguer. He certainly looks like it on the mound, currently sporting a 2.37 ERA in 19 games (19 IP) for the Blue Jays this season.

“I feel like it's kind of sunk in a little bit,” he said. “I'm trying to normalize this life. I told my wife a couple weeks ago, we were trying to find a place to stay, and I was like, I don't know where we're going to stay yet. I don't know how long we should get one for. We just need to kind of find a place. And then we start to normalize this. And now we're starting to normalize it a little bit more.”

But he’s not resting on his early season stats. He knows he has to keep grinding.

“Never getting comfortable is the biggest thing,” he said. “At any time, the game can get you. It's just keeping your head down and keep going at it is the biggest thing.”