Minor Notes: Brian Matusz begins his journey to Baltimore

Posted by Paul Bugala on Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 11:28 pm

Orioles prospect Brian Matusz showed the repertoire and poise that made him the first pitcher picked in the 2008 draft during his first home start for the High-A Frederick Keys on April 19. The left-hander scattered seven hits through six innings by setting up a sharp curve with a 91 to 94 mile per hour fastball or an occasional slider or change up.

“During my first two starts, I was rushing things a little too much,” Matusz told Baseball Daily Digest after the Keys game on Saturday. “I’ve been a little too anxious and tried to do too much. Tomorrow I’m going to go out there, throw strikes and get ahead in the count and let guys put balls in play.”

The Orioles top pitching prospect threw 96 pitches, 67 for strikes, on Sunday. He seemed to gain focus as the game went along. Overall, Matusz had seven ground-ball and three fly outs and averaged 3.4 pitches per batter.

“My focus has been on throwing the fastball for strikes earlier in the count and trying to get ground balls earlier on,” he said. “My focus (on April 19) will be on the fastball. I’ll work it in and out on both sides of the plate.”

Matusz’s 11.34 K/9 is among the league leaders in the Carolina League and he has yielded one homerun in 15.2 innings. These excellent results and the 22-year-old’s knack for getting out of jams indicate he is making a smooth transition to professional baseball.

“(The difference between college and professional baseball) is different scenery,” Matusz said. “It’s still the same game. There hasn’t been a huge difference in the hitters so far. I’m just trying to get ahead in the counts and throwing strikes. That’s what I didn’t do in my first two starts, which is something I need to work on. I need to avoid getting deep into counts, which just makes it harder for me.”

The ease of Matusz’s transition may be explained in part by the responsibility he was given in college, where pitches are generally called by the coaching staff and not the catcher.

“In college I had the right to shake off whenever I wanted to. So, I did shake off a lot and I threw what I wanted to throw,” the University of San Diego alumnus said. “So, it hasn’t been a huge difference and luckily the catcher (at Frederick) Caleb Joseph is very smart behind the plate and we’ve worked together very well.”