American baseball player
Baseball player
Michael Benjamin Matuella (born June 3, 1994) is an American former professional baseball pitcher . He played college baseball for the Duke Blue Devils . He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the third round of the 2015 MLB draft .
Amateur career
Born and raised in the Philadelphia metropolitan area , Matuella's family moved to Great Falls, Virginia . He attended Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, Maryland , across the Potomac River .[ 1] He was lightly recruited out of high school and only received offers to play college baseball at Duke University and the University of Maryland .[ 2] He chose to play for the Duke Blue Devils .
As a freshman in 2013, he appeared in 22 games with seven starts. He had a 4–4 win–loss record with a 4.53 earned run average (ERA) and 28 strikeouts over 57+ 2 ⁄3 innings pitched . In 2013, he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox .[ 3] As a sophomore in 2014, Matuella started 11 games, going 1–3 with a 2.78 ERA and 69 strikeouts over 58+ 1 ⁄3 innings.[ 4] After the season, he was diagnosed with spondylolysis , which caused him to not pitch during the summer or fall.[ 5]
Entering his junior season, Matuella was considered one of the top prospects for the 2015 Major League Baseball draft .[ 6] [ 7] [ 8] [ 9] Prior to the season he was named a preseason All-American by Baseball America .[ 10] In April it was announced that he would need Tommy John surgery , which ended his junior season.[ 11] He pitched only 25 innings as a junior.[ 12]
Professional career
The Texas Rangers selected Matuella in the third round, with the 78th overall selection, of the 2015 draft.[ 13] He signed with the Rangers, receiving a $2 million signing bonus .[ 14] Matuella did not play in 2015 due to recovery from Tommy John surgery, and his 2016 season was cut short after one game with the Spokane Indians of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League due to a sprained ligament in his right elbow.[ 15]
Matuella spent the first month of the 2017 season on the disabled list, but still pitched in 21 games, posting a 4–6 record with a 4.20 ERA for the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League .[ 16] Matuella spent the 2018 season with the Down East Wood Ducks of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League ,[ 17] and struggled throughout the season, posting a 3–5 record with a 8.24 ERA in 51.1 innings in 20 games (8 starts).[ 18] He was assigned back to Down East for the 2019 season,[ 19] going 5–2 with a 4.04 ERA over 42.1 innings. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the COVID-19 pandemic . Matuella was released by Texas on May 13, 2021.
References
^ Jim Sumner (July 11, 2017). "Former Blue Devil Matuella Making Step-By-Step Return" . Duke University . Retrieved April 11, 2018 .
^ Aaron Fitt (February 11, 2015). "Meet Michael Matuella, Unlikely No. 1 Prospect" . D1Baseball.com . Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
^ "Michael Matuella" . pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 25, 2019 .
^ Duke ace Michael Matuella on fast track to stardom Archived February 13, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Duke's Matuella Impresses In First Outing" . Baseball America . Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
^ "Pipeline Perspectives: Matuella should be No. 1 pick" . MLB.com . Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
^ Steve Wiseman (February 12, 2015). "Matuella ready to show his talents for Blue Devils" . The Herald-Sun . Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
^ James Meslener. "Michael Matuella: The Next Big Arm to Watch for" . Baseball Essential . Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
^ Clemson rides Michael Matuella's fastball to 5-3 ACC baseball win over Duke Archived February 13, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
^ "BASE: Matuella Named Baseball America Preseason All-American" . 99.9 The Fan ESPN . February 2, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
^ Ted Cahill. "Top Draft prospect Matuella needs Tommy John surgery" . MLB.com . Archived from the original on September 3, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2019 .
^ Laura Keeley (June 7, 2015). "Duke pitcher Michael Matuella one of the MLB Draft's biggest mysteries" . The News & Observer . Retrieved April 11, 2018 .
^ Laura Keeley (June 9, 2015). "Texas Rangers draft Duke pitcher Michael Matuella in 3rd round" . The News & Observer . Retrieved April 11, 2018 .
^ "Texas Rangers: Rangers pitcher who once had potential to be top-five draft pick stays on course in Arizona" . The Dallas Morning News . May 13, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2018 .
^ Adam J. Morris (June 22, 2016). "Michael Matuella done for the season with sprained elbow ligament" . Lone Star Ball . SB Nation . Retrieved April 11, 2018 .
^ "Michael Matuella Stats, Highlights, Bio" . MiLB.com . Retrieved November 4, 2017 .
^ Down East Wood Ducks (April 3, 2018). "2018 Down East Rotation Set" . MiLB.com . Retrieved April 11, 2018 .
^ "Michael Matuella Stats, Highlights, Bio" . MiLB.com . Retrieved January 27, 2019 .
^ Matt Presentt (March 27, 2019). "Wood Ducks Announce 2019 Roster" . MiLB.com . Retrieved April 5, 2019 .
External links