Atlanta Braves 2022 Season Review: Tyler Matzek

Unless you were living under a rock in 2021, Atlanta Braves fans remember just how important Tyler Matzek was to the Braves during their run to the World Series title. He was awesome during the regular season and was essentially untouchable during the playoffs as a key member of the “Night Shift” despite having to play a ton. Matzek’s performance in the NLCS against the Dodgers in Game 6 not only was arguably the best highlight from the entire postseason run, but will go down in Braves lore forever as a seminal Braves playoff performance.

Coming into the 2022 season, many thought it would be more of the same from Matzek as he looked as though he was poised to be a top reliever in the league again and one of the Braves’ primary high leverage relievers. Unfortunately, we got to witness first hand just how cruel the baseball gods can be and why relievers’ stocks can be so volatile.

How did the 2022 season go for Tyler Matzek?

Things got off to a rough start almost immediately for Matzek as he had to hit the injured list with shoulder inflammation. At the time, it sounded like the problem was more a result of a slight change in his mechanics and not necessarily indicative of any sort of long-term problem. Matzek would return from his rehab assignment in July with the hope that he would look like the pitcher that posted back-to-back sub-3 ERA seasons in the bullpen for the Braves.

Unfortunately, that is not what ended up happening. Matzek’s command was iffy at best during the course of the season and his fastball velocity was notably down. As a result, he was largely kept away from higher leverage situations until he worked out his issues. In 42 appearances with the Braves in 2022, he posted a 3.50 ERA and 4.49 FIP in 43.2 innings pitched while striking out 7.42 batters per nine and walking 5.98 batters per nine. If you are walking a bunch of guys, not missing bats, and your stuff is regressing…the results can be ugly. His one saving grace was that his opponents’ BABIP against him was just .202 which was a career low by a lot.

Unfortunately, things did not improve through the end of the season. When it was time to announce playoff rosters in 2022, the Braves instead placed Tyler on the injured list with an elbow issue. On October 12, the team announced that Matzek would undergo Tommy John surgery which will keep him sidelined for the next 12-18 months.

What can the Atlanta Braves expect from Tyler Matzek in 2023?

The short answer is…nothing. Even if you factor in a very successful and quick Tommy John recovery and rehab, Tyler Matzek got his surgery done so late in the calendar this year that it is nearly impossible to think that he would return at any point during the 2023 season. If his recovery is more in the 18 month range, the start of the 2024 season becomes a question mark.

One important note here, too, is that Matzek is heading for his second year of arbitration. His arbitration dollar amount should be relatively small (estimates currently have it at around $2.5 million) and that combined with his track record of performance with the team means he isn’t going anywhere in the short-term. However, when his final year of arbitration (2024) rolls around, it will be very interesting to see how that plays out as it could give us a sense of how well Tyler’s rehab is going.