Baseball Beginnings

By John Klima
June 2, 2009

The final start of left-hander Tyler Matzek’s amateur baseball career was not a lesson in stuff, despite the low 90s his fastball was hitting in the seventh inning of a grueling start. It was instead a lesson in scouting his composure, competitiveness, and just when he needed it most, the sharp curveball he had been looking for all day.

Matzek’s fastball command wasn’t horrible, but it was inconsistent. Its late life helped him, as did the curveball he finally began to get comfortable with in about the sixth inning. His velocity maintained into the seventh inning, working in the low 90s and hitting 93 mph.

But sometimes radar guns should take a backseat to watching how a pitcher responds to adversity. Protecting a 1-0 lead, Matzek pitched around a leadoff double in the seventh inning with the help of his defense. He threw what might have been his best curveball of the game when he got a called third strike for the second out of the inning. Catcher Nolan Clark’s pick-off throw caught the tying run at first base for a game-ending double play.

Matzek’s victory against Jake Marisnick and Riverside Poly wasn’t as much about stuff as it was about savvy. It was less about radar guns and more about making big pitches in big situations. His final start before the 2009 MLB draft showed the ability to work through stretches where he threw mistake pitches. His previous start showed pure stuff. This time, despite the pitching line, it was about the ability to win when getting loose is elusive.

“It wasn’t my best and it took me a while to get warmed up in the bullpen,” Matzek said. “I didn’t really have off-speed stuff.”

Matzek threw about 90 percent fastballs. He wasn’t as sharp in the first inning this Tuesday as he was last Tuesday against Orange Lutheran. His stuff slipped some in the second and by the third inning, he needed 25 pitches to work around a one-out double with a pair of strikeouts surrounding a walk.

“That’s what makes a player,” Matzek said. “You have to be able to compete even without your best stuff. It was more about battling than anything else. I didn’t feel that good in the bullpen before the game and I didn’t really bring a curveball in with me.”

Before he saved his best stuff for the end, he saved it for Riverside Poly centerfielder Jake Marisnick.  In the at-bats between a pair of top 2009 MLB draft prospects, Matzek started Marisnick with a fastball at 94 for a called strike, and then missed with a cutter at 87. He came back with a fastball at 95 for a ball, followed by another 95 fastball that Marisnick fouled back. Matzek missed with a 97 mph fastball up and away, then came back with a 94 mph heater that Marisnick did not hit hard. He grounded out and got down the line in 4.34 seconds.

In their second meeting, Matzek fell behind 2-1 and Marisnick drew a walk.

In the final at-bat, Matzek jumped ahead in the count and made quick work of Marisnick, overmatching him with a high fastball at 94 that the right-handed hitting center fielder could not check his swing against.

Matzek gave up two fly ball doubles, but the hardest hit ball of the game belonged to left-handed hitting Blair Moore, who rifled a line drive to first base for an out in the first inning. Moore has committed to San Diego State, but is a draft-worthy player anywhere from the 5^th to the 8^th rounds and will be a third baseman at the next level.

Marisnick showed how his other tools allow him to influence a game even when he doesn’t get a hit. He had four putouts in center field and each play showed a little something different. His first ball was a softly hit ball to shallow center field. Marisnick came in at about half-speed. He dove and made the catch on the fly nearly at the cut of the outfield grass.

Two hitters later, Marisnick took charge in center field and went all the way over into left field to take charge of a fly ball. It’s a routine play, but it shows aggressiveness, pride in defense, and how easy and graceful he is when underway. If you can recall Devon White running in center field, that’s a nice athletic comparison for Marisnick. Big-game centerfielders take charge in big games. I just wrote a book about a guy like this.

Defensively, Marisnick wasn’t finished. In the fifth inning, he made a diving catch of a hard line drive hit right at him. He finished the inning by going about half-speed for him to catch up to ball hit into shallow right field. The wide expanse at Blair Field provided a nice place for the center fielder to show what he can already do defensively. Along with Bonita shortstop Jiovanni Mier, Marisnick is easily the most gifted defender among the top Southern California free agents.

Riverside Poly junior left-hander Dylan Stuart should have helped himself. Listed at 5-10, he has a nice and easy arm action and doesn’t drag his back leg through the delivery. He pitched a two-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks. He’ll never be powerful enough for some scouts, but he threw differing breaking balls with 12/6 and 1/7 plane, runs and sinks his fastball, and has a concept of a change-up. There’s still a long way to physically mature for this pitcher. At this stage, he’s a definite Division I college prospect.

But the afternoon has to belong to Matzek, who has not allowed a run in the playoffs. He has three innings remaining based on CIF-Southern Section rules, so he could come out of the bullpen Saturday night in the Division I baseball championship at Angel Stadium.

Read Matzek’s first interview after he signs with Rockies
Read Tyler Matzek Q&A
Matzek hits 97
Watch Tyler Matzek Scouting video
Watch Tyler Matzek April Scouting video
Read Tyler Matzek Scouting report
Colorado Rockies Select Tyler Matzek
Read Jake Marisnick Q&A
Watch Jake Marisnick Scouting video
Read Jake Marisnick Scouting report
Watch Matt Hobgood vs. Jake Marisnick Video
Hobgood vs. Marisnick game
Jake Marisnick Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays

Categories: 2009 Draft
Tags: Blaire Moore, Dylan Stuart, Nolan Clark, San Diego State, Tyler Matzek