The Yankees are in agreement with free agent reliever Tyler Matzek on a minor league deal, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. There’s presumably a non-roster invite to MLB camp for the PSI Sports Management client.
Matzek held a showcase for teams last month. He evidently showed enough for the Yanks to give him a look in Spring Training. Matzek is looking to rebound after injuries limited him to 11 big league appearances in 2024 — none of which came after May 4.
The veteran southpaw began the year in the Braves’ bullpen. Opponents tagged him for 11 runs over 10 innings. Atlanta placed him on the injured list with elbow inflammation during the first week of May. Matzek remained on the shelf for more than three months. Atlanta dealt him to the Giants as a salary offset in the Jorge Soler deadline acquisition.
San Francisco released Matzek rather than plug him into the MLB bullpen when he was healthy. Atlanta circled back to re-sign the 34-year-old to a minor league deal. He pitched four times with Triple-A Gwinnett and didn’t earn a call up. He qualified for free agency at season’s end.
Elbow issues have derailed Matzek in consecutive seasons. He underwent Tommy John surgery during Atlanta’s postseason run in 2022. That cost him the entire ’23 campaign. He’d had a strong three-year run for the Braves between 2020-22. Matzek combined for a 2.92 earned run average while striking out more than 27% of batters faced in 135 2/3 innings. His fastball had sat in the 94-96 MPH range during that time. The velocity ticked down ever so slightly in his return from surgery; he averaged 93.6 MPH on the heater last year.
There should be a decent opportunity for Matzek to break camp if he impresses in Spring Training. New York only has one lefty reliever on their 40-man roster: the recently re-signed Tim Hill. Aside from Matzek, they’re bringing two southpaws to camp as non-roster invitees. Brandon Leibrandt has seven MLB appearances, while Jayvien Sandridge has yet to reach the majors.
League altering move.
You mean Tim Hill didn’t light their fuse?
I guess Matt Moore or Chafin out of the Yankees budget
He’s not the same player with all of those injuries
Between him and Jayvien Sandrige yesterday, the Yankees want to add more LHP options in the bullpen because there’s nobody in the majors or upper minors besides Hill. Good business.
Yeah I was wondering how Cotillo came across this
Vaguely recall this dude being OK. Doesn’t hurt to have guys compete. Matt Blake is good at these projects. Hill and Mayaza were just that last season.
Is a minor league deal ever “bad”? Probably not
Like this a lot. Rooting for you matzek!
He will be back with the Braves at some point. They need a Chavez replacement for the “reacquired bullpen guy” position.
No matter what becomes of matzek and his career from this point forward, he will always be a braves legend for his heroics in the 2021 World Series!
Matt Blake has another project to work his magic on.
When was Jayvien Sandridge reported? That’s a nice pickup.
Nice! He was damn good when healthy, to get him on a minor league deal is fantastic
perfect depth move
paging dr. blake…
I used to get Mitner and Matzdek confused. Both lefties out of the pen. And is that Liebrandt mentioned related to Mike Liebrandt who used to pitch for the Braves??
Man, I watched this kid in HS around LA and he was basically expected to throw a No-hitter any night. This was against elite high school competition. its crazy to think what might have been had he been drafted by any other team outside the Rockies. He was a beast among the beasts.