June 25, 2023

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

In his personal life, Hayden Juenger is quiet, reserved. He keeps to himself.

A lot of time spent with family. A little bit of hunting, a little bit of fishing.

That’s who he is.

Only baseball changes that. When the 6-foot right-hander steps on the mound at Sahlen Field in New York for the triple-A Buffalo Bisons, his disposition shifts.

He’s aggressive, ready to attack the next batter who steps up to the plate. “Bulldog mentality,” he calls it. This is a game he’s loved since he was a six-year-old kid taking the field with a Major League dream, and he’s putting all his energy and passion into making that happen.

“I’m going to come right at you, I don’t really care who’s in the box type mindset,” Juenger said.

That mental shift is important for the young athlete who quickly climbed through the ranks of the Blue Jays’ farm system since he was drafted in 2021. He was selected by the Blue Jays in the sixth round, and after being promoted to their triple-A affiliate last summer, he’s one step away from the top.

He brings a lot of emotion and confidence to his outings each time he takes the mound - with the confidence aspect being key to having success especially at the higher levels.

He has that down pat, but the 22-year-old is still having a bit of an up and down season this year, with a 6.46 ERA in 27 appearances with Buffalo. He mostly attributes that to the switch to the ABS strike zone and hitters picking up on what pitches he’s going to throw.

If it was above the belt it was a fastball, and if it was below the belt it was probably a changeup, so they were sitting on one pitch, he said.

“I think that's where a lot of the failures would come in, it's been more singles this year, but I think it's part of the growing pains of this game,” he said.

He has since slightly modified his routine on the mound, changing where he comes set from the top of his shoulders to where he now comes set down by the belt so it’s harder for hitters to be tipped off.

When he has struggles on the mound, he keeps an “on to the next one” mentality. It’s the only way you’ll make it in baseball. You can’t dwell on past failures. He assesses what went wrong, learns from it, and then looks forward. It’s advice he got from some of his veteran teammates and former teammates in triple A - Zach Thompson, Luke Bard, Casey Lawrence and Matt Peacock.

“[Those guys] they're trying to get back there [to the big leagues] but at the same time they’re also open to helping us younger guys who are in triple-A understand and learn and grow through these growing pains that we have,” he said.

“Just knowing ‘hey, it's not going to be the last time you're going to struggle, or it's not going to be the last time that you're going to have a lot of success, so don't get too high and don't get too low just kind of stay in that even range.’”

That’s key for Juenger especially now, as he’s seeing a lot of time on the mound - about one to two innings three times a week. He breaks it down even further - for him, it’s not just about looking forward to the next outing, but looking forward to the next batter when things go south during a game.

The advice came into play Thursday after he gave up a solo shot, which he didn’t let get to him mentally. He went over what went wrong - he knew the pitch he threw was okay, but it could’ve been executed a bit higher, he said. Then he turned around and got three quick outs after.

It’s always a bit of reflecting, then on to the next one.

His main focuses this season are on limiting the hard hit contact against him, getting more strikeouts and giving up less walks. So far, it’s going well - his hard hit percentage is down from last year, he said, and he’s striking out more people.

His estimated time of arrival to the majors is 2023 according to his scouting report. He’s ready for his call up to the Blue Jays when it comes, in whatever role they decide to put him in, he said. He was a starter prior to college, where he then moved on to his role as a reliever and a closer.

“I feel like I can do either or if the Blue Jays wanted me to, I’m very confident in starting just as much as I am in relieving,” he said.

His ability to handle the mental toll the game can have is just as important as his talent on the field. In his role, he’s often a huge factor in what direction the game swings depending on how he throws.

He’s keeping that bulldog mentality and hopeful of riding that passion and energy all the way to the bigs.

“If you're in a high leverage [situation] and you succeed then it's great,” he said.

“If not you get punched in the mouth, and you got to punch back your next outing.”