Atlanta Braves: Victor Mateo 3-Start Review for the Mississippi Braves
May 20th vs. Pensacola – 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K
First Inning
Mateo led off the game against Beau Amaral of Pensacola with a strike and pounded the edges of the zone the first three pitches before striking out Amaral on a nice changeup.
Second baseman Ryan Wright was up next, and Mateo continued to hug the outside corner of the zone, getting Wright to ground to short on the fifth pitch of the at bat. Powerful lefty Kyle Waldrop rolled over the first pitch, pulling the ball behind first base where second baseman Eric Garcia ranged far to his left and got Waldrop out on a toss to the covering Mateo.
Second Inning
Mateo once again hugged the outside corner against Seth Mejias-Brean to open the second, missing inside once, but he missed a called strikeout on an off speed pitch that looked quite good on the fourth pitch of the at bat.
Mejias-Brean fought to take the at bat to 7 pitches before Mateo got his second strikeout of the game. Lefty-hitting Juan Perez came up next, and Mateo changed modes on Perez, going inside all four pitches before Perez pulled the ball to the first baseman.
Next up was shortstop Zach Vincej, and Mateo missed his target each pitch the first four pitches of the at bat. He got one strike called, but on a 3-1 count, Vincej took a hanging pitch to right-center for a double.
Left fielder Juan Silva followed Vincej, and Mateo was out of the stretch for the first time. Mateo was able to get Silva to chase ball four on a full count for his third strikeout of the game to get out of the inning.
Third Inning
Catcher Cam Maron led off the third inning, and Mateo missed twice inside. He went back inside with an off speed pitch twice to get called strikes. He then missed his location, leaving the ball over the middle instead of outside where Matt Kennelly was positioned.
Maron slapped the ball up the middle where Garcia got to the ball, but he couldn’t get Maron on the jump throw to first. Opposing pitcher Wandy Peralta laid down a very solid bunt to move Maron to second base.
Mateo seemed bugged by the runner at second as he went after Amaral, missing his location on his first two pitches, his second pitch nearly getting past Kennelly to the backstop if not for a great move by Kennelly.
He then got Amaral to swing through a changeup and then ground out to third base to keep the runner at second. Mateo went back to pounding the outside against the right-handed Wright, but he missed over the middle, and Wright knocked a single up the middle to drive in the first run for Pensacola, tying the game at 1.
The first pitch to Waldrop was in the dirt in the lefty’s batter box, leading to a brief stare to the mound by Waldrop.
Mateo then shifted outside for ball 2, and when he went back inside, Waldrop fouled him off with force. Then possibly the best defensive play of the young season happened. Mateo climbed the ladder, and Waldrop got under the ball, launching it behind the plate toward Mississippi’s dugout.
Matt Kennelly was on his tip toes with everything above his knees leaning over the wall to make a tremendous catch for out #3.
Fourth Inning
Mejias-Brean led off the fourth with a lined shot at Mateo that hit Mateo’s glove and bounced away. Mateo attempted to scoop the ball to first, but he hit Mejias-Brean in the back with the ball, so the hit went as an infield single.
Mateo had a nice pitch mix against Perez, going inside and out, even setting one “show me” pitch up andoutside that Perez wanted badly, but knew it was outside. The next pitch was even higher but right down the middle and Perez popped the ball to second base.
On the first pitch to Vincej, Mejias-Brean easily stole second base as Mateo didn’t even give him a look after throwing over twice in the Perez at bat. Vincej hit the second pitch to deep right field and Mejias-Brean tagged up to third base. Silva took an inside off speed pitch to right field to end the threat in the fourth.
Fifth Inning
Mateo started the fifth against catcher Maron by going low in the zone before climbing the ladder and getting his fourth strikeout. Up next was the pitcher Peralta, and while he laid down a great bunt in his first at bat, Peralta struck out on four quick pitches.
That brought the top of the order in center fielder Amaral. Mateo pounded the zone against Amaral, but again he got unlucky as Amaral bounced a ball between Mateo and Garcia that Garcia couldn’t get to Kevin Ahrens at first before Amaral had sprinted down the line to beat the throw by a step.
Mateo’s indifference to the running game led to another steal as Amaral took off on a 1-1 pitch to second base as Wright stood in. After staying in the middle and moving the ball up and down the zone, Mateo got a call on the outside corner to strike out Wright and end the inning by striking out the side.
Sixth Inning
Mateo got Waldrop to ground out to second to open the sixth inning. After falling behind Mejias-Brean 2-0 before two fouls ran the count to 2-2, Mateo walked Mejias-Brean.
With Perez at the plate, Mateo threw over to try to keep Mejias-Brean, pitched out, and then struggled to find the zone, walking Perez on four pitches. Shortstop Vincej popped out to short right field so the runners couldn’t tag up.
Mateo struggled to find the zone with Silva, leading to a mound visit from pitching coach Dennis Lewallyn as the count went to 2-0 before Perez took a 3-1 pitch to center field to end the inning.