The Rays finalized their two-year, $15MM deal with Steven Matz on Tuesday afternoon. The veteran lefty came out of the bullpen for all but two of his 53 appearances this past season, but he’ll have a chance to win a rotation spot out of Spring Training.
“There’s a real desire on his end to want to start and give that a real shot again, despite his success last year out of the bullpen, and we just believe that he has the the ability to do it,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander told Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. “So we’re going to give him the opportunity to prepare as a starter, to come in and try to lock down a day.”
Matz signed as a starter with St. Louis over the 2021-22 offseason. He battled injuries in each of the first three seasons of that four-year contract. He suffered a shoulder impingement and a knee sprain in ’22. A lat strain shelved him the following season, while it was his back that proved problematic in 2024. The stop-and-start seasons and inconsistent production quickly pushed him into a swing role. Matz wound up making just 35 starts — compared to 48 relief outings — over three and a half seasons with the Cardinals. He pitched to a 4.68 ERA despite solid strikeout (22.6%) and walk (6.4%) rates out of the rotation. The Red Sox used him in short relief after picking him up at last summer’s trade deadline.
The 34-year-old Matz held up as a starter earlier in his career. He topped 150 innings each full season between 2018-21. He allowed around four earned runs per nine in each year, generally performing at a league average level. Matz still has plus command and hasn’t much changed his repertoire even when pitching in shorter stints. He leans most heavily on a 94 MPH sinker while mixing in a curveball and a changeup, the latter pitch almost exclusively against right-handed batters. Righties have posted a .276/.322/.446 line over the past four seasons, while he has held same-handed opponents to a .225/.280/.339 mark.
At the moment, Matz projects as the fifth starter behind Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Shane McClanahan and Shane Baz. Virtually none of that is set in stone. Rasmussen is a top-of-the-rotation caliber starter but has a lengthy injury history. McClanahan hasn’t thrown a major league pitch in two seasons. Pepiot and Baz have come up in trade rumors. The former has only been mentioned in the context of a potential Ketel Marte blockbuster, but the Rays could be more open to a change-of-scenery deal on Baz given his inconsistency. It’s possible the Rays acquire another starter via trade or free agency. Second-year lefty Ian Seymour would be Matz’s top competition for a rotation spot if they don’t make any further moves.
It’s worth a try. I’ve always liked Matz ever since that year he spent with the Jays. I feel like he could have had an even better year with them if he hadn’t had problems with injuries. He pitched pretty well to start the year before he got injured and pitched like crap for a while after that before really coming on down the stretch.
I can’t help but wonder what would have been if he could have stayed healthy and found a little more consistency throughout his career. He’s always had the talent.
It worked out in the end for the Jays considering how things went down, but I was pretty disappointed when they didn’t resign him.