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Bryan Mata, P
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Scouting report
The Red Sox pushed Mata through the lower levels very quickly, even though he had several injury hiccups (including shoulder soreness in 2019) and rashes of wildness. Then, in 2019, he posted a very acceptable 9% walk rate in a season split between Hi- and Double-A and capped his year in the Fall League, where he threw really hard (often 97-99) in front of the whole industry. He came to the 2020 alternate site looking svelte, and showing better feel for his firm, short cutter/slider, a pitch he added later in pro ball. Mata resides in the 45+ FV tier for several of the same reasons that Adrian Morejon and Justus Sheffield have in the past: the shape of their fastball movement is not suited to missing bats, and they have a spotty command and/or injury track record. Even though Mata sat 93-96 as a starter in 2019, his fastball only generated a 6% swinging strike rate against mid-level hitters. His best two pitches for missing bats are his changeup followed by his well-located slider (the curveball has nastier movement but is an easy ID out of his hand due to its loopier shape). Mata's release grew inconsistent later in his alt site outings and he's not as good of an athlete as the typical starter. I think he'll start for Boston but on a contending team, a guy like this comes out of the bullpen in a valuable multi-inning role. (Alternate site, was on the instructs roster but did not pitch in games)