'That was the Bryan Mata we got used to seeing here'; Details on 'encouraging' live BP Thursday
No other pitcher in Worcester came into the 2023 season with more expectations than Bryan Mata. After 7 eventful starts to start the season, Mata landed on the IL after his start on May 9th and has not seen game action yet.
We waited months with little updates until this past week when Mata was seen in Worcester now that the FCL is over and closed up in Fort Myers. On Tuesday, Mata was throwing long toss with the rest of the WooSox pitchers like he would if he was a healthy member of the pitching staff. On Wednesday, he was scheduled for a live BP to determine when he would pitch in a real game for the WooSox. Rain ultimately pushed that back to Thursday and it went to plan.
Pitcher from Kiké Hernández trade putting up good results in Worcester
“It was hard throwing.” WooSox manager Chad Tracy said of the live BP. “I think he was sitting right around 97 MPH. That was the Bryan Mata we got used to seeing here when he came up. He had a nice run through the minor leagues last year getting healthy last year and showed up here and it was a lot of that. To see him on the mound throwing hard like that and around the zone. He threw his changeup and some really good sliders. I thought it was a really positive step and he looked really sharp. He has been working down in Florida, so it was encouraging to see.”
When Tracy was asked pregame on Thursday on when we will see Mata in game action, he wanted to wait to see how Mata felt after throwing his 30 pitches to see if it would be this weekend or next week to pitch in a game. The goal is to see him in at least two outings out of the bullpen before the end of the WooSox season.
Mata will come into 2024 in a very interesting spot given that he will be out of options. It seems like it will be up to whoever is hired to replace Chaim Bloom to see what they want to do with him if he is going to be apart of the 2024 Red Sox pitching staff.
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