Fighting for his place in Major League Baseball, Mississauga native vows to up his game
Published March 25, 2024 at 10:29 am
Much has changed for Jordan Balazovic in the past eight months.
Last July 22, the Mississauga native was ecstatic after earning his first Major League Baseball victory as his Minnesota Twins edged the visiting Chicago White Sox 3-2.
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound right-handed pitcher, 24 at the time and previously a consensus top-100 prospect in all of baseball, fired one inning of shutout relief in which he threw only seven pitches and didn’t surrender a hit.
Though he wasn’t on the mound that night as a starting pitcher, which had been the plan for him since being selected by the Twins in the fifth round of the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft, Balazovic was finally in the big leagues fulfilling a lifelong dream.
After a roller-coaster number of years for the St. Martin Secondary School grad in the Twins’ minor league system, he made his MLB debut last June 18 in Minneapolis against the visiting Detroit Tigers.
And after picking up that first MLB win in late July, life in baseball was very, very good.
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That was then. This is now.
Balazovic’s first MLB victory turned out to be his lone win on the 2023 season and he finished the campaign with a 4.44 ERA and just 17 strikeouts in 24.1 innings pitched.
Today, Balazovic, who turned 25 last September, faces an uncertain future after being designated for assignment — aka released — by the Twins along with two others on Feb. 7 as spring training for the 2024 MLB season got underway in Fort Myers, Florida.
MLB’s 29 other teams were free to claim him, but none took the chance and Balazovic cleared waivers. That meant he remained with the Twins, but was now off their 40-man roster and sent back down to the minors — his star no longer shining as it did only a few short years earlier when he was considered a “can’t miss” prospect and one of a few gems in Minnesota’s minor league system.
Despite the setback, Balazovic was invited to spring training with another chance to impress the organization.
While only a small sample size, his 7.1 spring innings for the Twins haven’t been overly impressive. But seven strikeouts in those innings and one save in seven appearances are stats in his favour.
So, the former top prospect now finds himself on the pitcher’s mound back in the minors, but still with a chance — albeit the window is closing — to regain his stuff and make a new, better impression upon Twins’ decision makers.
Balazovic recently told U.S. media outlet The Athletic in an interview he was surprised the Twins DFA’d him in early February.
However, he added he’s focused on returning to the majors and, when he gets there, being more consistent in his performance and doing what it takes to stay there and build “on a dream come true.”
He noted the move from starter to the bullpen — necessitated by injuries and an inconsistent starting pitcher’s arsenal — took a toll on him.
“My body wasn’t used to it,” Balazovic told The Athletic. “Just wasn’t used to that routine. I’m still learning to try to get a set routine to be able to perform every night.”
As far as the Twins are concerned, they still believe in the Mississauga product — particularly the 95-plus-mph fastball he can bring from the bullpen to the mound later in games.
Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli told The Athletic Balazovic “has the kind of stuff that he has the ability to pitch himself into a spot.”
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