Matusz - Is it possible?

[vab]

Leaving aside the grief he gets on the board here, Brian Matusz is having a pretty good season. He's still having some difficulty vs righties but has been completely dominant vs lefties - .139, .206 BAA overall. Is it possible he has re-habbed himself to the point that he could be a legitimate back-end of the rotation starter option next year?

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[DrungoHazewood]

Is it possible he has re-habbed himself to the point that he could be a legitimate back-end of the rotation starter option next year?

Hasn't he spent the last three years remaking himself into a rather extreme LOOGY?

[canonfaz]

I'm not a big Matusz fan, but I have to admit, he has pitched great over the last stretch. I don't think he has the stuff to ever hold down a rotation spot though (unless his change up magically comes back). He misses his spot with the FB way too much against righties.

[mcgraw238]

We shall see. Matusz has looked pretty good lately. I expect he will get stretched out again in the spring and given the opportunity to win a rotation spot.

[backwardsk]

I don't think I'd be willing to pay the 3.5M or whatever to find out. Do you feel he could get through a stacked right handed lineup once, let alone two or three times?

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[Frobby]

I'm probably one of Matusz's biggest boosters on this board, but I think the ship has sailed on him being a successful starter. His splits are just too extreme.

[sportsfan8703]

Matusz just walked two batters to load the bases, to get to a LH batter. That tells you all you need to know about him.

[mdbdotcom]

He threw a nice changeup to a righty yesterday to get the strikeout. Maybe he's getting better since he stopped cheating.

[Barnaby Graves]

I don't know why people think relievers with even mild success can go back into the rotation. There's a reason they are relievers. For the vast majority of players the trip to the bullpen is a one-way one.

[Rene88]

I think we need to lock up Matusz long term.

By lock up, I mean on a bike rack and walk away.

[TouchemAll]

...

[JLee2027]

I think we need to lock up Matusz long term.

By lock up, I mean on a bike rack and walk away.

:laughlol:

[DrungoHazewood]

I don't know why people think relievers with even mild success can go back into the rotation. There's a reason they are relievers. For the vast majority of players the trip to the bullpen is a one-way one.

People tend to talk about that with which they're familiar. To me it's unlikely that a pitcher who's spent several years concentrating on getting one or two lefties out per night would be one of the better candidates to get 18 or 20 hitters of various descriptions out every five days.

[Aristotelian]

Problem is, he is going to be due north of $4M in arbitration, too much for a LOOGY. At that salary, O's have to consider either non-tender or go in the opposite direction and make him a starter. I wonder if he might be open to an extension at his current salary and stay as a LOOGY/low leverage guy. Something like 3 years/$10M. If he won't do that, I say non-tender and role with Cabral or whomever.

[Ruzious]

Matusz just walked two batters to load the bases, to get to a LH batter. That tells you all you need to know about him.

Those 2 hitters will be in the HOF - Trout and Pujols - and Buck directed him to intentionally walk them. The time to try that is in ST - and I don't have a problem giving it a try. He's done very well this season, so it'd be nice to give him a reward - if he's still got his heart set on it - and I'm guessing he does.