Impressions of Brian Matusz

[NewMarketSean]

He looked poised and confident in his ability to throw the ball over the plate. Much like Bergesen and Hernandez. That was enough for me.

Once he gets some polish on his pitches at this level he is going to be deadly. His slider and curveball were nasty when they found the zone and his fastball really kept the hitters off balance after he set them up with his slider/cruve early on.

I do wish he threw his change-up more often.

[scOtt]

He looked poised and confident in his ability to throw the ball over the plate. Much like Bergesen and Hernandez. That was enough for me.

Once he gets some polish on his pitches at this level he is going to be deadly.

Deadly is the LEAST of it! Box score or not, this guy has skilz!

[Mashed Potatoes]

On an aside, Matusz' change up is as good as Tillman's curve. It is devastating, and the way he uses it is masterful. Since Santana's change is falling off a bit, I'd say the top 2 in the entire league are Hamels and Matusz. I watched him go 3 innings without throwing it once, but then when he does, watch out. I watched a guy swing and miss so hard he went down to one knee.

Better than James Shields and Tim Lincecum's change ups too?

By the way, I don't think it's been talked about enough that Matusz did what he did entirely against right handed batters, who he's less successful against. He murders lefties, in the minors he held them to a .174 AVG.

[adam_jonzin']

I don't think scouting reports really help much when you are facing a pitcher who throws five different pitches, can vary speeds, can cut his fastball when he feels like it, and has excellent command. You may know what he can throw, but you still have no idea what he is going to throw.

This guy is a left-handed Mike Mussina, minus 2 mph on his fastball. The batters will never be able to outguess him.

Minus 2mph? Mussina sat around 92-93 mph when he was an Oriole, along with an excellent change. I can't remember, did he have a slider? Either way, I think they might be more similar than you think. Moose did have that ridiculous knuckle-curve though. Speaking of which, the only dissapointment last night was the lack of this supposed "plus to borderline plus-plus curve". I know he said it was "off" but still. Can someone make me feel better about this?

[Don_Aase_Fan]

Fangraphs on Brian Matusz's debut

[bce086]

Minus 2mph? Mussina sat around 92-93 mph when he was an Oriole' date=' along with an excellent change. I can't remember, did he have a slider? Either way, I think they might be more similar than you think. Moose did have that ridiculous knuckle-curve though. Speaking of which, the only dissapointment last night was the lack of this supposed "plus to borderline plus-plus curve". I know he said it was "off" but still. Can someone make me feel better about this?[/quote']

It's probably the change of balls from minor to major league, to some extent. Seems that Tillman, and even Hernandez have had some problems with it.

That coupled with a 1st start, I'm confident his curve will be dirty in no time. :clap3:

[neveradoubt]

1. Better fastball than I expected. Better command velocity than I expected, and not afraid to pitch inside with it.

2. Two different changeups, both of which are very impressive. He will get a lot of swings and misses there once his fastball confidence is there.

3. Very heady and poised from the stretch. Didn't see much of a move, but he didn't forget about any runners, either.

4. Didn't see as much of his breaking stuff, but his slider is very similar to his changeup and that's gonna pose a problem for the opposition.

5. Confident enough to throw any pitch in any count. I can't stress how rare and important this is. Once he gets a little "ML" confidence in his fastball, we'll really be able to see what we've got.

I was very impressed despite the number of pitches. He knows what he's doing and he's not timid.

It's nice to see.

Will be even better when he matures physically

[RHall31]

1. Better fastball than I expected. Better command velocity than I expected, and not afraid to pitch inside with it.

2. Two different changeups, both of which are very impressive. He will get a lot of swings and misses there once his fastball confidence is there.

3. Very heady and poised from the stretch. Didn't see much of a move, but he didn't forget about any runners, either.

4. Didn't see as much of his breaking stuff, but his slider is very similar to his changeup and that's gonna pose a problem for the opposition.

5. Confident enough to throw any pitch in any count. I can't stress how rare and important this is. Once he gets a little "ML" confidence in his fastball, we'll really be able to see what we've got.

I was very impressed despite the number of pitches. He knows what he's doing and he's not timid.

It's nice to see.

That sums it up for me. I was very impressed with how he pitched with runners on base.

I envision many,many games where he is just totally baffling the opposition

and going deep into games.

[atom_25]

Dude looks like the truth. Most major league ready of the pitchers we have seen debut this year and should only improve.

[RShack]

Nope, I read the same story. There was an anecdote about a couple veterans "clucking" because he threw a curve that was so nasty.

How happy does that make you since that looked like his "worst" offering last night? Yay us... :mwahaha:

No kidding.

The only thing that wasn't great about the performance was how many pitches he had to throw to get thru 5. That was mainly because, one way or another, a lot of guys got on base. The good news was that, while he was in jams pretty often, that didn't seem to bother him any.

All in all, he looks like he knows what he's doing, in ways both large and small. I figure either he's a quick study, or else he's been taking pitching seriously for more-than-a-few years and was taught right at an early age, or both...

[Frobby]

Minus 2mph? Mussina sat around 92-93 mph when he was an Oriole' date=' along with an excellent change. I can't remember, did he have a slider? Either way, I think they might be more similar than you think. Moose did have that ridiculous knuckle-curve though. Speaking of which, the only dissapointment last night was the lack of this supposed "plus to borderline plus-plus curve". I know he said it was "off" but still. Can someone make me feel better about this?[/quote']

Why are you saying "more similar than you might think," when I said he was a left-handed Moose minus 2 mph on the fastball? FYI, Moose could crank his fastball up to 95 and occasionally 96 back in his younger days, though I'd probably agree that he "sat" at 92-93. I don't think Matusz has quite the velocity Moose had. But what he does have is a wide repetoire of pitches, very good command, and a great sense of how to mix his pitches, which at the end of the day is what made Moose so successful.

[allstar1579]

Why are you saying "more similar than you might think," when I said he was a left-handed Moose minus 2 mph on the fastball? FYI, Moose could crank his fastball up to 95 and occasionally 96 back in his younger days, though I'd probably agree that he "sat" at 92-93. I don't think Matusz has quite the velocity Moose had. But what he does have is a wide repetoire of pitches, very good command, and a great sense of how to mix his pitches, which at the end of the day is what made Moose so successful.

Actually, their velocity is almost even. Matusz sits about 90-93 and can crank it up to 94-95 once in a while. I watched him hit 91 on 5 straight pitches and then a few pitches later hit 95 on the outside away edge.

He is a very quick study by the way.

His curve is a plus pitch for me, maybe just a tick below, but it's not the kinda curve like Olson used to have or Tillman has, it's more of a slow loopy curve, but it breaks out of the zone and comes back into it, and he can hit spots with it. When he's throwing that down and away to RHP they have no chance. His change is better than his curve though I think. He will just make guys look completely foolish with it. Same arm action as the FB, but it comes in a lot slower and guys are way out in front and it's too late.

[Frobby]

Actually, their velocity is almost even. Matusz sits about 90-93 and can crank it up to 94-95 once in a while. I watched him hit 91 on 5 straight pitches and then a few pitches later hit 95 on the outside away edge.

According to Pitch f/x he maxed out at 93.8. http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfx/index.php?month=8&day=4&year=2009&game=gid_2009_08_04_balmlb_detmlb_1%2F&pitchSel=451085.xml&prevGame=gid_2009_08_04_balmlb_detmlb_1%2F&prevDate=84 I stand by my statement that Mussina had more velocity when he was in his prime. But it isn't particularly important in terms of assessing whether Matusz could be as good a pitcher.

[adam_jonzin']

Why are you saying "more similar than you might think," when I said he was a left-handed Moose minus 2 mph on the fastball? FYI, Moose could crank his fastball up to 95 and occasionally 96 back in his younger days, though I'd probably agree that he "sat" at 92-93. I don't think Matusz has quite the velocity Moose had. But what he does have is a wide repetoire of pitches, very good command, and a great sense of how to mix his pitches, which at the end of the day is what made Moose so successful.

I thought you said "a lot like a left-handed Moose".

[allstar1579]

According to Pitch f/x he maxed out at 93.8. http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfx/index.php?month=8&day=4&year=2009&game=gid_2009_08_04_balmlb_detmlb_1%2F&pitchSel=451085.xml&prevGame=gid_2009_08_04_balmlb_detmlb_1%2F&prevDate=84 I stand by my statement that Mussina had more velocity when he was in his prime. But it isn't particularly important in terms of assessing whether Matusz could be as good a pitcher.

I never saw Moose in person, couldn't tell you, but I do know that I've seen Brian hit 95 so I know he can do it, but as you would guess I'm sure he loses a bit of control when throwing that hard, so he doesn't do it too much.

And of course, agreed, Brian is Brian, and going to be a darn good pitcher all his own.