As the Boston Red Sox make final adjustments to their Opening Day roster, most of the buzz will concern newly minted big leaguers like Kristian Campbell and Richard Fitts.
However, many other players' hopes of reaching the MLB have been delayed. Such is the case for Bryan Mata, who was recently optioned to triple-A Worcester, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive:
During spring training, Mata posted an 11.57 ERA in 4 2/3 innings, which didn’t convince manager Alex Cora. While being sent to Triple-A is a disappointing setback for Mata, who is still pursuing his MLB debut, this won’t be the last you hear of the 25-year-old.
Mata has a lethal arsenal featuring a mid-to-high 90s sinker, a high 80s slider, and a sharp, buckling changeup. He will also mix in a vertical curve ball. According to Pitch Profiler, Mata has excellent Stuff+, one of those highly sought-after metrics in this day of analytics-driven baseball.
He ranks in the 81st percentile in Stuff+, 88th in Location+, and 88th in fastball velocity. This is a results-based league, and while Stuff is undoubtedly valuable, it does not matter if it cannot be honed.
Signed from Venezuela in 2016, Mata has been a fixture in Boston’s system ever since. He has bounced around all three levels but has mostly spent time in Triple-A since 2022. His 4.87 ERA and 1.754 WHIP are not strong enough to translate to the MLB.
If Mata can learn to manage his talent and develop consistency in his command, he could eventually be a valuable contributor to the Red Sox.
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