Another former metro-east baseball standout makes big league debut

A graduate of O’Fallon High School and the Belleville News-Democrat’s 2018 Metro-East Player of the Year has made his Major League Baseball debut.

Hayden Juenger advanced quickly through the Toronto Blue Jays organization after being drafted out of Missouri State in the sixth round of the 2021 MLB draft, but he spent most of the past five seasons at Triple-A Buffalo.

The right-handed reliever appeared in his first big league game Sunday in Baltimore against the Orioles. Juenger allowed three earned runs on two walks and two hits in one inning. Toronto (29-31) lost 9-5.

Before being promoted Saturday, Juenger had appeared in 17 games for Buffalo as a starter and a closer. He went 1-2 with three saves and a 3.15 ERA.

In 209 career minor league appearances, Juenger is 20-15 with a 4.45 ERA and 12 saves. He has pitched 313 2/3 innings with 353 strikeouts and a .242 opponents’ batting average.

Juenger was a standout for two seasons at O’Fallon after transferring from Collinsville. He was the Panthers’ ace as a senior, going 9-1 with a 1.55 ERA in 54 innings to help O’Fallon win the Southwestern Conference title. The News-Democrat Large School Player of the Year finished his high school career 16-3 with 137 strikeouts in 119 innings.

He went on to Missouri State in 2019 and went 5-7 with 10 saves and 98 strikeouts in 87 innings over three seasons, posting a 4.14 ERA. In 2019, he often worked with catcher Drew Millas, a Belleville East graduate who has appeared in 37 games this season with the Washington Nationals.

To make room for Juenger on the 40-man roster, Toronto designated veteran Austin Voth for assignment.