By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Today’s the day baseball fans have been looking forward to for months – Opening Day!
And while many of Del Rio’s fans will be focused on teams from the Lone Star State – the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers – plenty more will be focused on the Los Angeles Angels of California, the team that Del Rio’s “Captain” Jack Mayfield will play for this season.
The Angels open their season Thursday against the Astros. It’s not called the Mayfield Appreciation Series, but it could be considering it was the Astros that signed Mayfield as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and he made his debut with the big league club in 2019.
Mayfield, 31, is entering his fourth year in Major League Baseball. After spending his first two major league seasons with the Houston Astros, Mayfield opened the 2021 season with the Angels before being released and signed by the Seattle Mariners. He appeared in 11 games for the M’s before being waived and re-signed by the Angels.
It was the perfect fit for the former Del Rio High School and University of Oklahoma standout. The Angels’ had just lost their multi-millionaire all-star free agent Anthony Rendon to injury and were looking at platooning players to pick up the slack. Mayfield played second base, shortstop and third base and soon found himself a key part of the Angels’ plans.
He appeared in 75 games for the Halos in two stints, batting .224 with 52 hits including 10 home runs and 36 RBIs. More importantly, he committed just eight errors in more than 600 innings of work.
After a 2022 spring training in which he hit .250 with two home runs and 10 RBIs, Mayfield appeared headed back to the Angels. Manager Joe Maddon confirmed that Mayfield would be back with the team this season, officially announcing Mayfield had made the roster Saturday and would be serving in a platoon role at second base going forward.
Maddon has been one of Mayfield’s biggest supporters since getting an extended look at him last season. “Sometimes somebody is kind of a late bloomer,” Maddon said to the Orange County Register in September. “Stuff like that happens. Guys need opportunity. You mature to the point where you don’t freak out about things. That’s where he’s at.”
It hasn’t been the easiest of offseasons for Mayfield. Aside from the owners’ lockout, which delayed the start of the spring training and the regular season, Mayfield lost his father David in January. But Mayfield still keeps his father’s memory alive on the diamond. As he crosses the plate after a home run, he performs the sign of the cross and points to the sky, giving a little reminder to everyone watching that his dad is still cheering him on from the greatest seat in the house.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
