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2023 Player Outlook

All we wanted in 2022 was for Matz to be like he was with Toronto in 2021, but increase that strikeout rate a bit. Well, the strikeout rate was great, in fact, it was a career-best at 26.1 percent, thanks to jumps in his O-Swing% and SwStr%, and therefore, reduced contact overall. However, despite his 3.64 xERA, 3.78 FIP, and 3.15 xFIP, Matz’s ERA came in at 5.25 for the season, and shoulder issues cost him over half of the season, limiting him to just 48 innings. Upon returning from injury, he pitched out of the pen to end the year, where he actually was quite good. However, he’s a starter for this team, but durability is a real issue with Matz, as he has just three seasons with more than 150 innings pitched, and since coming to the bigs in 2015, he’s served at least one trip to the injured list in every single season. He’s got a great defense behind him, and a great offense backing him, and with where he’s going in drafts, he’s worth taking a flier in, just in case he does stay relatively healthy as he did in 2018, 2019, and 2021.