The long awaited 2010 Phillies debut of Scott Mathieson is here as he was called up today when lefty Antonio Bastardo was placed on the DL with left elbow “ulnar neuritis”. Mathieson has been lights out in his position as the Lehigh Valley closer except for his most recent outing during which he gave up a game winning grand slam to Fernando Martinez. In his 25 outings, Mathieson was 2-2 with a 2.43 ERA and 12 saves (5th in the IL). Opponents are hitting just .194 against him. Mathieson, coming off two Tommy John surgeries, throws very hard, with his fastball hitting 100 mph on the Lehigh Valley radar gun at times. In addition to the fastball, Mathieson has been throwing both his curveball and change in key situations.
46 thoughts on “Mathieson Called Up”
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Phuture Phillies 
finally
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Awesome. Hope he can stick. Just the fact he made it back after those surgeries is incredible.
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speaking of surgeries, Zach Collier is going to get another surgery
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A great story just got even greater, hopefully he can make the most of this opportunity.
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Great news! And somewhat amazing.
A human interest story as well as help for the big club.
Go Matty!
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What’s the word on Collier? Season ending?
Great news for Scott…terrible news for Antonio (damn shame he can’t stay healthy).
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If they can work out a trade with the angels so they can send down Herdon to work on his secondary stuff when Madson comes back this bullpen could become dynamic.
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Changeup complimenting fastball:
Hi studmuffins, you da man, like a change of pace?
🙂
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Kearse, thanks for the update on Collier, that’s tough news. I hope he can keep his chin up and work hard through his rehab. We’re all pulling for him.
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One more word on Mathieson. By all accounts he is also one of the nicest guys in the organization. My son marveled at how kind he was to all of the fans (and particularly the kids) at Reading last year. He’s really easy to root for. Go Matty!
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Will he be in New York tonight?
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We became big Mathiesons fans also. Took time to talk to the kids, was genuine and down to earth, extremely polite (he is Canadian after all)
Imagine the work ethic for one surgery comeback let alone three. Great story!
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Dan,
They don’t have to work out a trade with the Angels for Herndon. He has already been on the roster for over 60 days. They can DL him until September to get him his 90 days on the active roster.
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Collier broke his hamate bone earlier this year, and then tore something in his wrist. I have no idea on the implications of the surgery
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I hope he does well it is very difficult to have any confidence in that bullpen as it is performing now
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I personally spoke to Scott during a rain delay for 10-15 min at a Lakewood game a few years ago. Very nice guy and had some lights on in his head. I liked the guy a lot and have been rooting for him since.
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I was actually at the start where Mathieson made his debut against the Rays. He got shelled, but I have a feeling it will be better this time around.
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If anyone earned it this guy did.
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me thinks Brian Gump may want to get on with his life’s work. It s a shame, seems like a good dude.
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* If they can work out a trade with the angels so they can send down Herdon *
Maybe they could take Joe Savery off our hands.
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Is this the end of our discussion of Mathieson on this site since he graduated?
I think the Phils were itching to get him up and Bastardo is again having elbow issues. Zagurski would seem the more likely callup due to his lefthandedness.
I think he will start in low leverage but I doubt he will be looked at as a multiple inning guy. Probably get him an inning with a four run margin type game with possibility to move into Baez role (who was quite good for about 15 outings before being bumped by Contreras then Romero then Lidge).
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The baseball I have autographed with Utley, Hamels, Floyd and Mathieson just increased in value by a tad. Good for him. How could you not root for Scott Mathieson?
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Can we trade Baez now and add the Z.
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Go Matty!!! It will be great to have a guy who throws 100MPH especially if he follows Moyer or Kendrick into the game. Hitters might think he’s throwing 200MPH. Too bad we don’t have a knuckleballer for a starter.
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I like both Bastardo and Happ, but their forearm/ulnar nerve problems make me concerned that they are headed where Mathieson has been—Tommy John surgery
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Unless Mathieson can work his way into the 7th, 8th , 9th inning roles, which is doubtful to me (and don’t know where people come up with the bullpen has been so bad deal) Then if/when Madson returns , he will likely return to the minors for the 60 or so days until the September 1 call-up. Without regular opportunities to pitch or important situations to pitch in , he would fall into the infrequently used long relief/ mop up role, and Herndon has adapted to that role and fills it well and Mathieson would have to learn it. Nobody needs to quote Herndon’s cumulative season stats as that is not germane. Also the trade to the Angels thing is not a necessity. So barring a trade of one of the more veteran relievers or one from the Mathieson/Zagurskie group, or some sort of injury, that is the probable event. Also, it is not done to place on the disabled list without legitimate injury, it is contrary to the rules of MLB and is checked on, and the player if not legitimately injured can file a grievance, and the likely result might be they are granted Unrestricted Free Agency, with the offending team paying their full salary until they hook on with another team.
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marfis, I think Baez is quickly pitching himself into that long reliever role. UC doesnt really seem too impressed with Baez so far so Mathieson might be given a shot at the 7th inning if he shows them anything in his first couple outings. With Durbin pitching well, Romero and Lidge back to form and Contreras in the fold, the bullpen is suddenly a strength again.
Sorry for the MLB esque post, James.
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Just curious what Mathieson’s repertoire on the mound is. What are his secondary pitches?
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Can’t trade for Herndon and send him down. Doesn’t work that way. Herndon would have to clear waivers through all MLB teams and one would take him, very likely, given what he has shown and the shoddy bullpens here and there.
They can DL Herndon and bring him up in September.
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Mathieson is out of options, yes? Doubt that he’d clear waivers before an assignment.
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Mathieson will be an important contributor in the mid to late innings for the Phils by the end of the year. Just one mans opinion.
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Mathieson throw’s a slider and change. I believe the Slider is plus and the change is average.
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I like David Herndon and all, but this team is fighting for its life. If Mathieson outpitches Herndon (which I expect will happen), I keep Mathieson on the big club. The team can always try to orchestrate a trade of Herndon to another team (remember the Fabio Castro situation – this time we’d be the seller, not the buyer). Moreover, the last thing I am worried about with this team is losing a relief pitching prospect. For the first time ever, we’ve got relief pitchers to burn – as much depth as I can ever remember.
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Mathieson is not out of options by my count, if he was he could have been claimed at the beginning of the season when they optioned him. I see 2007, 2009, and 2010 which is still in effect.
Bullpen has not been a problem out of usual occasional flare-ups , so don’t see any big needs to be giving away players which is not what is done, anyway. Only about 5 guys would get regular work and they have them, so unless Mathieson gets opportunity and works his way into that he’s ticketed for a return till September 1. If they feel they need to bring Madson back and they continue with the starters and start Happ in the bullpen that might complicate things further.
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Marfis – I understand your reasoning and it’s a legitmiate argument. However, I view Mathieson’s promotion to be important for a lot of reasons, not the least of which are: (a) if you are grooming him for back of the bullpen duty, that process should begin as soon as possible; and (b) he has potentially dominating stuff and could be an excellent option this year, particularly if Madson or Lidge get hurt or go through a big funk (both of which are more than possible). But you are right, the bullpen is not a problem, so there’s a good chance they’ll send him back, Herndon will stick around and we’ll have to see even more from Baez (who, based on his stuff, should perform a lot better than he has).
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Baez makes fairly good money and there is another year left and veterans are not easy to move anyway. When Herndon was used for (something like) 3 1/3 innings the other day, they would not do that with Mathieson (I don’t imagine) they would want to use a lefty (especially now with only J.C.Romero) , so I would say for Mathieson to stick, for now, he would have to supplant a veteran short reliever. And if he bumps one to long relief they might as well move the veteran, but they may not be able to, fiscal prudence wise, and all that.
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Good points. It’s too bad Baez has the two-year contract and Contreras the one-year. Absent a blow-up, I see them signing Contreras for at least another year, perhaps two. But a lot can change between now and the end of the year.
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I think one of the big reasons why Contreras signed with the Phillies is because he is very good friends with Baez. This may also explain why Contreras signed for peanuts.
In either case, Mathieson and Zagurski should be locks for the 2011 roster. They both have nothing to prove in AAA.
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Blanton has too many pitches in this game to go the distance even if keeps the shutout going. Seems like a great game to let Mathieson get his feet wet.
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yep. I expect to see him here in an inning or 2.
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Some bad luck but that pitch to span was a potential disaster.
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That just goes to show that if you don’t mix up your pitches, hitters will get to a 98MPH fastball
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He seems to be the same pitcher as before. A dead straight fastball and didn’t see much secondary stuff. Give him a few games, but if he can’t show a decent slider, he won’t be able to help
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Glad he is finally in the majors, so I can stop reading about how he is better than the pitchers on the big club. Nobody has ever thrown 98 apparently.
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Going by what is in the box, reflecting actual performance on the field, it appears Mathieson was bombed in his last performance. Better “luck” next time.
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Major adrenaline rush. Ball was low for a few hitters and then he got excited and the ball came up. A dribbler or two also. First game jitters. Ignore.
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