Brian Matusz - SP - Baltimore Orioles
Injury and Health
No injuries in his time with the Orioles since being drafted in the first round of the 2008 draft. No reason to be overly concerned for injuries yet.
Skill Set
Brian Matusz has been under the shadow of Chris Tillman this year in the Baltimore Orioles system, but has made his debut last night and has people excited about the future of the Orioles staff. Minor League Ball gave these thoughts before 2009 started:
3) Brian Matusz, LHP, Grade B+: Not David Price, but should advance quickly due to sharp command of solid stuff.A B+ had him tied with Chris Tillman by their ranking and behind Matt Wieters. He was one of the best lefties in the 2008 draft and has 4 quality pitches according to the ScoutingBook.com. He also ranked #25 in Baseball America's top 100 right behind Tillman at #22.
Now we have some Double-A starts to look at for seeing what he can be. In High A this year he dominated with a K/9 of 10.13 and a BB/9 of 2.84. That has fallen slightly in Double-A, but still solid at 8.94 and 2.14 for a 4.18 K/BB. Although he was considered behind David Price in 2008 his numbers mirror Price closely through Double-A.
Price had a K/BB of 3.44 in 57 IP at Double-A with a K/9 of 8.68. Price has been known for his solid groundball rates, but that has fallen the past few years and has hit a remarkably low 36.9% this season. I suspect Matusz might have some walk issues like Price, but he could out pitch him as well if he can keep his groundball rate above 40% as he has done in Double-A.
Last night Matusz won his debut start in the majors and as expected he had some issues with walks. He pitched 5 innings and had 5 strikeouts, but walked 3 batters. We don't want to read to much into one start here, but keeping an eye on his walks would be a good idea.
Here is a video of Brian Matusz in the arizona Fall League:
Major League ETA
He's here and Baltimore seems to really have the young players to turn things around soon. With Tillman, Wieters, Nolan Reimold and Matusz already here the team will look to have a Tampa Rays type of turn around soon.
Conclusion and Advice
A speculation grab in deep leagues seems warranted. Keeper leagues he is a must add as he is one of the top prospects in baseball right now. How much can he add this year is tough to guess. Before last night he had 113 IP combined in the minors. I'm sure he'll have a limit on a losing team, but what that is I don't know.
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