Max Fried sat in the home dugout at Scottsdale Stadium, intently watching each pressure-packed pitch during the Arizona Fall League championship game. The Atlanta Braves prospect is a pitcher himself, a good one at that, but on this late November day, the mound assignment belonged to another hurler.

T.J. Zeuch, arguably the Toronto Blue Jays’ top pitching prospect, got the start for the Peoria Javelinas and quickly ran into trouble. The first three batters reached on singles and then a sacrifice fly followed, giving the Mesa Solar Sox a 2-0 lead.

The game was quickly slipping out of hand and with a runner on base and only one out, there was potential for more damage. Zeuch, however, didn’t waver. The right-hander managed to induce a groundball — his trademark — that was converted into an inning-ending double play. It was one of three double plays he registered during his 5.2 innings that afternoon. Zeuch didn’t allow another run after the shaky first and was ultimately rewarded with the win in Peoria’s 8-2 victory.

As Fried closely observed his fall league teammate, he made a mental note.

“I made sure to tell him at the end how good of a competitor, how fiery he was,” Fried says. “To come out and not have the most solid first inning, then give the team five-plus innings in a championship game with a lot on the line and obviously with it being televised … For him to show that kind of character and competitiveness was something I was taken back by.”

Zeuch’s performance in the championship game was the finishing touch on a month of growth for the highly regarded pitcher. A month he hopes will set him up well for the future.

The Blue Jays sent Zeuch, 22, to the AFL to simply accrue more innings. His 2017 campaign, split between the organization’s high class-A and rookie league affiliates, was interrupted by a lower back injury.

The six-foot-seven right-hander was selected by Toronto in the first round (21st overall) of the 2016 MLB Draft from the University of Pittsburgh. With 99.2 pro innings under his belt, Zeuch had cautious expectations when told he’d be playing in the AFL, a six-week showcase that typically features some of the top prospects in the sport. These are players who’ve had experience in double-A, triple-A and even the majors.

“I was expecting to go out there and compete against highly talented guys and try to learn as much as I could from them,” Zeuch says. “And the results were better than I expected. I expected myself to go out there and hang around those guys, but all of my games, minus one inning, were pretty solid. I was very happy with that.”

That bad inning came in the outing prior to the championship game. Zeuch pitched well over the first four innings, but unravelled in the fifth. He continually left fastballs up in the zone and hitters took full advantage, scoring five runs as Zeuch recorded just one out.

“That was a big learning moment for me,” he says. “I had a bad inning and wanted to make sure I kept repeating to myself: ‘Don’t change too much.’ I knew I was going to get another outing, whether it was the championship game or the last game of the season. I just wanted to make sure I stuck to the core concepts I have in my routine.”

The inning represented the only real blemish during his time in the AFL — he posted a 3.38 ERA over 24 total frames, while also earning a selection to the fall league’s all-star game — and Zeuch says he was able to easily move past it thanks to his time spent with Fried. The two developed a friendship during their time in the AFL, and Zeuch thinks highly of the left-hander, who’s one year older and tallied 26 innings of MLB experience with the Braves this past season.

Zeuch made sure to ask Fried plenty of questions and grew particularly fond of his routine. Prior to the season, Blue Jays coaches had preached to Zeuch the benefits of having a “rock solid” routine, but watching someone from outside the organization put it into practice was illuminating for him.

During his time in pro ball Zeuch had been inconsistent with his own routine, he admits. If he endured a bad performance, he would spend the next several days tinkering with things, almost going back to square one. He didn’t trust himself enough.

“Seeing someone else of his calibre reassured it for me,” Zeuch says of Fried. “Just seeing how he goes about his business in between starts. Even on the day of his starts, the warmup routine he has, his throwing program that he does before he gets on the mound. He found what works for him and he sticks to it no matter what.

“I think that’s a big, important thing. I kind of found that out there and I think it’s going to be big for me to stick to that regardless of how an outing might go. If I have a bad outing here or there, kind of stick to that base routine because it has worked for me.”

Fried, the seventh overall pick of the 2012 draft, noticed Zeuch’s eagerness to learn.

“You can tell he wants to take in as much information and learn as much as possible,” says Fried. “He’d ask a lot of guys different questions and be a sponge with the information that was given back to him.

“He’s definitely calculating. You can tell he’s a really smart guy.”

Zeuch’s thirst for knowledge has been a common theme throughout the season. He worked under the tutelage of pitching coordinator Jeff Ware, senior pitching adviser Rick Langford and Dunedin pitching coach Mark Riggins to improve use of his lower half in his delivery and become more consistent with his release point.

The right-hander’s 92-96 mph sinking fastball and tight curveball have progressed tremendously in 2017 due to his work with Riggins, who joined the organization this season importing an extensive resume that includes major league coaching positions with the Cardinals, Cubs and Reds.

“There’s no way to make it in this game without learning as much as you can from guys who have been at higher levels than you,” says Zeuch. “He’s been a tremendous help with me.”

Gil Kim, Blue Jays’ director, player development, witnessed Zeuch — along with several of the organization’s pitching prospects, including Ryan Borucki, Andrew Case and Jordan Romano — evolve under Riggins. And when he made the trek to watch two of Zeuch’s AFL outings, Kim saw a pitcher who was much different than before.

“That’s probably the best we’ve seen him,” Kim says. “There was a combination of everything working at the same time. He’s always had a downhill plane sinker that’s been very effective. His command was pinpoint — he had four pitches working all at the same time.

“He looked confident, he looked strong, he looked healthy.”

It’s too early to say whether Zeuch will begin 2018 in single-A or double-A, but Kim notes that Zeuch’s a polished strike thrower with a strong work ethic. To take the next step, the pitcher just needs to stay on the mound, he believes. The club would like Zeuch to focus on core stability and overall strength this off-season and sees no “red flags” that should prevent him from staying healthy in the future.

That future looks brighter, according to Kim, due to insight Zeuch gleaned from his gutsy performance in the final AFL game.

“One of the biggest benefits of his time in Arizona was getting those big-stage experiences,” says Kim. “You can’t replicate those — they’re very valuable. It has got to be a good feeling getting the win in the championship game heading into the off-season.”