Brian Matusz, lefty who had Big Papi's number, dies at 37
Jake Rill
@JakeDRillBrian Matusz, a left-handed pitcher who spent nearly all of his eight-year MLB career with the Orioles, died on Tuesday. He was 37.
The No. 4 overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft, Matusz pitched in 279 games (68 starts) for Baltimore from 2009-16. He made only one big league appearance for a team other than the O¡¯s -- a three-inning start for the Cubs on July 31, 2016, in their most recent championship season.
¡°A staple in our clubhouse from 2009-16, Brian was beloved throughout Birdland, and his passion for baseball and our community was unmatched,¡± the Orioles said in a statement. ¡°He dedicated his time to connecting with any fan he could, was a cherished teammate and always had a smile on his face.¡±
Brian Robert Matusz was born on Feb. 11, 1987, in Grand Junction, Colo., and grew up as part of an athletic family. His father, Michael, participated in track and field at Purdue University. His brother, Chris, played baseball at Iowa Wesleyan University.
Brian¡¯s baseball career took off during his time at St. Mary¡¯s High School in Phoenix. As a junior in 2004, he went 8-2 with a 0.95 ERA and was named first-team All-State for Arizona. During his ¡¯05 senior campaign, Matusz went 8-1 with a 0.50 ERA and was selected as the Arizona Player of the Year.
After being drafted by the Angels in the fourth round of the 2005 MLB Draft, Matusz opted to instead head to the University of San Diego. He went on to have a standout three-year career for the Toreros, capped by winning West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year in ¡¯08.
Matusz, a two-time finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, led the NCAA with 141 strikeouts during his 2008 junior season at San Diego. He recorded 12 wins to go with a 1.71 ERA, the fourth-best single-season mark in the school¡¯s history at the time.
Matusz finished his collegiate career as the school¡¯s all-time leader in strikeouts (396).
When Matusz joined the Orioles, the organization was loading up on young pitchers. Baltimore took right-hander Matt Hobgood in the first round in 2009, while starters such as Jake Arrieta, Brad Bergesen, Zack Britton and Chris Tillman were expected to develop into key members of the club¡¯s rotation for years to come.
Matusz reached the big leagues in 2009, posting a 4.63 ERA over eight starts. He built on those results in ¡¯10, recording a 4.30 ERA over 32 starts and finishing fifth in American League Rookie of the Year Award voting. However, that ended up being the southpaw¡¯s best MLB season as a starter. He then pitched to a 10.69 ERA in 12 starts in ¡¯11 and a 5.42 ERA in 16 starts in ¡¯12.
But Matusz reinvented himself as a reliever and stuck in the Majors because of it. He had a 1.35 ERA in 18 relief outings in 2012, helping the Orioles end a 15-year postseason drought. He pitched a scoreless one-third of an inning in the AL Wild Card Game win over the Rangers, then posted a 2.08 ERA while pitching in all five games of the AL Division Series vs. the Yankees.
Matusz continued to serve as a reliable left-handed arm out of the bullpen from 2013-15, when he recorded a 3.32 ERA over 186 appearances. He pitched two-thirds of an inning in the AL Championship Series vs. the Royals in ¡¯14.
Many fans will remember Matusz for his success against Hall of Fame slugger David Ortiz. During Matusz¡¯s peak as a reliever, the Orioles frequently saved the lefty in matchups vs. the Red Sox for a key spot against ¡°Big Papi.¡±
Matusz often had the left-handed-hitting Ortiz¡¯s number: The slugger went 4-for-29 (.138) with 13 strikeouts in his career against the southpaw.
Matusz¡¯s time in Baltimore ended in 2016, when he had a 12.00 ERA in seven games before being traded to the Braves on May 23 that year. Atlanta released him a week later, and he signed on with the Cubs, pitching in the Minors except for one final big league start on the last day of July. He later pitched for Triple-A Reno in the D-backs¡¯ organization in ¡¯17, then made one start in the Mexican League and nine more with the independent Long Island Ducks in ¡¯19 before calling it a career.
Well-liked by fans and the Baltimore community, Matusz etched his place into Orioles history with his relief performances on the field and his generous actions off of it during a memorable time for the franchise.