WORCESTER — An important deadline is looming for Red Sox pitching prospect Bryan Mata.
His current rehab assignment will end on July 15, forcing the Red Sox to decide whether to put him on the major-league roster, since the club used his minor-league options in 2021, ‘22 and ‘23; in order to send him down to the minors after that July 15 deadline, he would have to pass through waivers. Mata has been on the 40-man roster since November of 2020 and has yet to crack the majors, thanks to a rash of injuries, including Tommy John surgery in April 2021, that have limited him to 117 innings in the minors since the start of 2021.
He missed most of last year with right shoulder inflammation. He began this season on the IL with a right hamstring strain, and hit a setback in late May due to lat soreness.
Finally, Mata is back in Triple A, the highest level he’s reached in the minors.
Throughout his career Mata has been almost exclusively a starter (87 of his 90 minor league appearances were starts coming into Saturday), but he came out of the ‘pen in his final two appearances for Worcester in 2023 and made his first relief appearance of the 2024 season on Saturday against Syracuse.
Mata came in to a clean eighth inning in a four-run game. He walked the first batter he faced after getting a first-pitch strike, but he needed just one pitch to get his first two outs, getting Austin Allen to ground into a double play on a 96-mph fastball. Three pitches later, he got Yolmer Sanchez to pop out to short on the same pitch.
In the ninth, he gave up a leadoff single and committed a balk, but also got two groundouts and a strikeout. His final line was two innings, one hit, one walk and one strikeout, throwing 30 pitches with 17 going for strikes.
So if and when he does make the Red Sox roster, will it be as a starter or a reliever?
“I really don’t know. He’s got great stuff obviously, I think he has the stuff to do either one,” Tracy said. “He’s obviously been a starter for most of his time as a Red Sox and came up as a starter. But he obviously has the arsenal and the weaponry, and he throws hard enough and if he’s in the zone, to be a reliever. I think the best answer is I think he’s equipped to do either one and it’s just going to be a matter of wherever the opening is.”
Since rejoining the WooSox over the road trip earlier this month, Tracy indicated Mata’s attitude has been nothing but positive.
“He’s been great here, he’s been awesome here,” Tracy said. “His frame of mind since he’s arrived has been great. I know he worked his tail off down in Fort Myers to get himself healthy and ready to go. I know he has worked with mental guys and stuff, and since he showed up here, you know, his work ethic, smiling, ready to work, he’s been great.”
WooSox 4, Mets 0
The WooSox salvaged the final game of the short three-game series thanks to some great pitching and a two-run home run off the bat of Mickey Gasper. It was the fourth homer for Gasper since joining the WooSox and eighth of the season overall for the 28-year-old.
Cooper Criswell didn’t show any rust after an extended rest, tossing six scoreless innings and allowing just one hit and striking out eight. He racked up 13 swings and misses, and threw 83 pitches with 57 going for strikes.
Making his WooSox debut, pitcher Alex Speas got into a little bit of trouble in the seventh, allowing a leadoff single and walk, then launching a wild pitch to put runners on first and third with nobody out. However, Speas got Pablo Reyes to pop out and a double play to end the inning.
Eddy Alvarez broke the scoreless tie in the fifth, finally getting to Wellesley native and Mets starter Mike Vasil for a solo home run, Alvarez’s 11th of the year.
Notes
– The WooSox added patches to their uniforms honoring late owner Larry Lucchino and debuted them on Friday night. The patches will be worn throughout the rest of the season.
The WooSox added a patch on their jerseys in honor of late team owner Larry Lucchino. (Katie Morrison-O’Day / MassLive)Katie Morrison-O’Day
– There’s a new pet in the WooSox clubhouse – actually, there are more like 60 new pets. Jamie Westbrook enlisted the help of WooSox staff to procure him an ant farm, filled with 60 male ants from Canada. There have been various suggestions about what to do with the ants, like running experiments, including introducing some Worcester-born-and-bred ants to see how they vibe with their Canadian counterparts.
NESN’s Laura Stickells uncovered the new addition to the clubhouse on Thursday:
What’s Next
The WooSox get a couple of days off before starting a six-game homestand against the Rochester Red Wings. Justin Hagenman (1-3, 4.94) will get the start on Tuesday night at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
