Tyler Matzek spent five years in between appearances in a Major League Baseball game. Now, he has become an elite piece in the vaunted Braves bullpen.
Coming into the 2020 season, Tyler Matzek was not considered to be key player for the Atlanta Braves. As a non-roster Spring Training invite, Matzek impressed enough to get a shot with the Braves due to expanded rosters.
He slowly began to earn the trust of the Braves coaching staff and front office and continued to get higher leverage situations for the Atlanta Braves. Matzek would take advantage of this opportunity.
In twenty-nine innings pitched, Matzek put up a 2.79 ERA, 1.92 FIP, 3.00 xFIP, 13.34 K/9, and 0.8 fWAR. Matzek was elite for the Atlanta Braves in 2020.
Tyler Matzek everyone pic.twitter.com/ZAZ2rD0i0Y
— Trent (@Trenciarte) October 11, 2020
Tyler Matzek has been a phenomenal find by Alex Anthopolous and the Atlanta Braves. Especially considering that Matzek was out of major league baseball for nearly five years with performance anxiety or the “yips.”
Walt Weiss deserves a lot of credit as well. After a failed comeback attempt with the Diamondbacks AA team in 2019, Matzek was considering leaving the sport altogether, but his former manager gave him a call and convinced him to give it one more shot.
Matzek would pitch for both the Mississippi Braves and the Gwinnett Stripers in 2019 before getting his shot with Atlanta in 2020. Matzek never gave up on his dream and the Atlanta Braves gave him a shot.
Matzek pitched for NINE different minor league and independent league teams in between major league appearances.
Just a reminder... Tyler Matzek pitched for nine different @MiLB /Indy teams between MLB outings from 2015 - 2020.
— Chris Harris (@CHarris731) October 6, 2020
Matzek was a Nut, Hawk, Chill, Isotope, YardGoat, Airhog, General, M-Brave, and Striper between MLB appearances.
Don't give up on your dreams! pic.twitter.com/EuYyTatvzn
It was a long road that brought Tyler Matzek back to a major league mound, and the former first-round pick is making the most of his opportunity. Matzek has earned the trust of the Braves, who are not just using Matzek, they are using him in big situations in the postseason.
So far in the postseason, Matzek has thrown 3.1 IP and has not given up a single run. Eight of the ten outs he has recorded have come via strikeout (21.60 K/9) and he has yet to walk a batter.
Pretty impressive for a guy who was living in a borrowed RV two years ago.
Matzek has become the secret weapon for Atlanta. So much so that Braves teammate Darren O’Day has given Matzek the nickname “The Death Star.”
#Braves reliever Darren O'Day said that Tyler Matzek is an unsung hero for the team. O'Day, a self-professed Star Wars fan, said he's nick-named Matzek "The Death Star" and explained it as follows, "The empire built this secret weapon that just came in and could destroy anything"
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) October 7, 2020
Similar to how the Death Star destroyed the planet of Alderaan, Tyler Matzek has been destroying batters so far in the postseason. Hopefully, he can continue his success out of the bullpen in the NLCS against the Dodgers.
Thankfully, the Dodgers are not really a rag-tag group of rebels, which seems to be the Death Star’s Achilles heel.
No matter how the 2020 season ends for Atlanta and Tyler Matzek, Matzek has proven he belongs on a big-league mound. He has also endeared himself to Braves fans everywhere and is proof to never give up on your dreams.