Reese Kaplan -- A Dubious Parallel for Steven Matz?

A doppelganger is typically defined as a double – someone whose physical appearance is virtually identical to another person.  However, there is another definition of an alter ego or the ghostly counterpart of a living person.

With these latter definitions in mind, I propose that Steven Matz has a doppelganger by the name of Erik Bedard.  For those of you with short memories or who don’t follow the American League that closely, Erik Bedard was a supremely talented lefthander who made his debut with a cup of coffee with the Baltimore Orioles in 2002, then joined the rotation for good in 2004.  At first it was a little rocky, but in 2006 he went 15-11 with a 3.76 ERA, providing the Orioles with someone who might be an anchor in the rotation for the foreseeable future.  He followed it  up with an even better 13-5 record with a 3.16 ERA.  The future’s so bright you gotta wear shades.

Then the Orioles pulled off the kind of deal that the Mets are too cowardly to execute.  It is regarded as one of the most lopsided in baseball history.  Sending the 28-year-old southpaw to the Seattle Mariners netted the Orioles quite a haul, including Adam Jones, Chris Tillman and three other minor leaguers.  Jones has, of course, ensconced himself in Baltimore as one of their all-time greats, appearing in five All Star games over his 13-year run.  Tillman had a three year run in which as a starter he turned in ERAs of 2.93, 3.71 and 3.34. 

But let’s get back to Bedard.  Obviously coming off the kind of year he’d put together in 2007, Seattle had every reason to believe they had their new ace for the next 8 years.  Unfortunately that’s when things fell apart.  He’d been pretty durable with the Orioles, having missed just 22 days with an oblique strain in 2007.  From there it was all downhill.

In 2008 Bedard had two issues, a torn labrum and a bad hip.  Combined he missed 108 games and finished the year for Seattle with a 6-4 record over 15 starts with a respectable 3.67 ERA.  In 2009 it wasn’t much better, having hit the DL twice for a sore left shoulder, missing 100 games.  He again made just 15 starts, but did very well, going 5-3 with a 2.83 ERA.  He missed the entire 2010 season recovering from surgery to his pitching shoulder, coming back in 2011 to appear in 16 games, going 4-7 with a 3.45 ERA before being traded to the Boston Red Sox as part of a three-way trade involving a group of minor leaguers that never amounted to much.  For the August/September stretch drive Bedard won a single game for the BoSoc, posting a 4.03 ERA.  The Red Sox let him walk away as a free agent.

The Pirates then took a chance on the talented but injury-plagued lefty, inking him to a modest $4.5 million contract.  He was their opening day starter, but after going 7-14 with a 5.02 ERA the Bucs released him in August.  He hung on at age 34 with the Astros and age 35 with the Rays.  For his career he finished 71-82 with a 3.99 ERA.  His WHIP was 1.362 and he averaged 8.6 Ks per 9 IP.

Steven Matz got a jumpstart on the injury bandwagon over his doppelganger, first hitting the shelf as a minor leaguer in 2010 with elbow discomfort, eventually succumbing to Tommy John Surgery.  He was out until 2012 when he started his career by going 2-1 with a 1.55 ERA for Kingsport.

In 2013 Matz was urged by Frank Viola to add a curveball to his arsenal of pitches and used it effectively to fan 121 batters in just over 100 IP with a 2.62 ERA.  He looked like he was going to be a bright part of the Mets’ pitching future.

After being added to the 40-man roster in 2014 Matz split the season between St. Lucie and Binghamton where he delivered 2.21 and 2.28 ERAs respectively.  He was named the organization’s Pitcher of the Year.

Matz began 2015 in the pitching hell of Las Vegas where against all odds he pitched to a 2.19 ERA with a 7-5 record.  That was enough to entice the Mets to promote him and on June 28^th he made an inauspicious debut, surrendering a home run to the Cincinnati Reds’ Brandon Phillips, the very first batter he faced in the big leagues.  He righted his ship, winning the game 7-2 and driving in four runs in his own cause.  His second game was even better, going 6 scoreless innings and fanning 8, but afterwards he hit the DL for the first time in the majors with a torn latissimus dorsi muscle which kept him out of action until September 6^th.  He finished the season with a 4-0 record and a 2.27 ERA.  The Elias Sports Bureau said he was the first pitcher in team history to go through his first five starts yielding 2 or fewer earned runs.   He pitched in the post-season against the Dodgers, Cubs and Royals, effectively in each start, but not showing any wins.  Again, the future looked incredibly bright.

In 2016 Matz made the rotation and despite a rocky first start, he flourished in April and May, winning Rookie Pitcher of the Month award.  However, in June it was announced the he (and Noah Syndergaard) were pitching with bone spurs in the elbow that would require surgery.  Matz was shut down for the rest of the season. 

In 2017 Matz actually began the season on the DL with an elbow injury, not returning to the team until the second week in June.  He lasted just 12 games, pitching extremely poorly with a 6.08 ERA before hitting the DL yet again in August for yet more elbow surgery.

This past week Matz hit the DL yet again with a forearm strain.  His pitching line for his career thus far is a smaller sample size version of Bedard – 20-24, 4.10 ERA and a 1.315 WHIP while averaging 8.1 Ks per 9 IP. 

It’s too early to give up on Matz despite many people proclaiming him both mentally and physically soft.  The tools are most definitely there.  The question is whether he can overcome his myriad of afflictions to develop into a Jon Matlack type or will he go the route of his doppelganger?