Matzsterful Stuff Leads Las Vegas to Seven Straight

Reno Aces @ Las Vegas 51s

April 30, 2015

Robbie Ray @ Steven Matz

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reno	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	8	0
Las Vegas	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	2	X	7	14	0

W: Matz (3-1, 1.84 ERA); L: Ray (1-3, 4.01 ERA)

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Steven Matz – 7 IP, 5 H, R, 2 BB, 12 SO, 101 Pitches (70 Strikes), 3 GO: 2 FO

Zack Thornton (5.84 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 H, R, 1 GO: 1 FO

Cody Satterwhite (9.00 ERA) – 1 IP, H, 2 SO

Batters

Wilfredo Tovar – 2-3, R, 2B (5), 3B (1), RBI (5), BB

Danny Muno – 2-3, 2 R, 2 2B (2), RBI (3), 2 BB

Johnny Monell – 2-5, 2 R, HR (4), 3 RBI (14), 2 SO

Brooks Conrad – 3-4, 2B (1), RBI (2)

Brandon Allen – 1-3, 2B (3), 2 BB

Travis Taijeron – 1-4, RBI (13), 3 SO

Darrell Ceciliani – 1-4, 2 SO

Cory Vaughn – 2-2, 2 R, SB

Recap

On a normal night, the promotion of a top-10 prospect to the Mets would be the most newsworthy story for the Las Vegas 51s, but nights when Steven Matz pitches are becoming anything but normal. After holding Reno hitless for the first 6.2 IP during his last start, Matz followed up with another dominant performance, this time striking out 12 Aces for a new career-high. But Reno starter Robbie Ray matched Matz early, keeping the 51s off the board for the first five innings, even though Las Vegas had threatened with a runner reaching 2B in each of the first four innings. These 51s bats are too hot to keep down long though, and they’d bust out for 7 runs on 9 hits over the final three frames, which was more than enough of a lead for the pen to hold onto in this one.

The 51s got big contributions from two players who started the game on the bench, as both Wilfredo Tovar and Cory Vaughn had two hits, with Tovar’s hits going for extra bases. Tovar is up to .288/.323/.407 through 62 PA in his AAA debut, which would be great output from Tovar, who still looks like a plus defender at SS, 2B, and 3B for the 51s this year. Johnny Monell hit his 4^th blst of the year, providing some big insurance runs in the bottom of the 7^th. If there wasn’t a roster crunch, I think it would be smart for the Mets to bring Monell up for Recker during this time to see if he stays hot in a backup role for the Mets. Recker has hit some big homeruns for the Mets, but he hasn’t hit a whole lot otherwise. Also, he only had 15 PA in April, so if nothing else, Recker would get a chance to play everyday for a few weeks, and potentially come back a little sharper. It was a triumphant return to the 51s lineup for Daniel Muno, who had 2 of the teams 5 doubles in the game. The only player not to join the hit parade was Matt Reynolds, who went 0-4 with 4 strikeouts and a walk.

Steven Matz struggled through a 29-pitch 1^st inning, allowing three hits and a walk, but holding Reno to just one run. He went into beast mode after that, needing just 72 pitches to pick up all 12 of his strikeouts over the final six frames. He ended up with 19 swinging strikes on the night, but his swinging strike rate jumps to 22.2% after the 1^st inning. His fastball command was a little shaky in the early, but he had pinpoint control of al 3 of his pitches by the end of the start, using it to strikeout 9 of the final 12 batters he faced. If he keeps pitching like this, it will be hard for the Mets to keep ignoring him. Check out the results by pitch type in Table 2 below.

The 51s will look for 8 straight behind Matthew Bowman when they host Reno Friday night at 10:05 PM.

Matz Coverage

Table 1 – Breaking down pitch count by type and inning

Count (Strikes)	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	5^th	6^th	7^th	Total
Fastball	17 (10)	9 (7)	8 (5)	7 (3)	11 (8)	4 (3)	6 (5)	62 (41)
Changeup	6 (4)	0	1 (1)	2 (2)	2 (1)	3 (2)	2 (2)	16 (12)
Curveball	6 (4)	0	5 (3)	2 (1)	3 (3)	4 (3)	3 (3)	23 (17)
Total	29 (18)	9 (7)	14 (9)	11 (6)	16 (12)	11 (8)	11 (10)	101 (70)

Table 2 – Breaking down pitch results by type

Strike %
Total	Call	Sw	Foul

BIP%
LD	GB	FB	PU

Results
AB	BABIP	ISO	K

Fastball

66.1

19.4

16.1

.444

.056

Changeup

73.3

18.8

37.5

18.8

Curveball

73.9

43.5

8.7

.500

.000

1^st inning

1) Garrett Weber lined a double into the RF corner (D9/L)

i. 95 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 0-1

ii. 94 MPH Fastball

2) Kevin Frandsen lined a single into CF – Weber to 3B (S8/L)

i. 76 MPH Curveball – called strike 0-1

ii. Curveball – swinging strike 0-2

iii. Changeup – ball 1-2, up and away

iv. 76 MPH Curveball

3) Peter O’Brien flied out to RF (F/9)

i. 74 MPH Curveball – called strike 0-1

ii. 76 MPH Curveball – ball 1-1, low

iii. 92 MPH Fastball – ball 2-1, up and away

iv. Changeup – foul 2-2

v. 94 MPH Fastball – foul 2-2, jammed him

vi. 94 MPH Fastball

4) Nick Evans walked to load the bases (BB)

i. 95 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1

ii. 84 MPH Changeup – called strike 0-2

iii. 94 MPH Fastball – ball 1-2, up and in

iv. 95 MPH Fastball – foul 1-2

v. 74 MPH Curveball – ball 2-2, low and in

vi. 92 MPH Fastball – ball 3-2, up and away

vii. 84 MPH Changeup – foul 3-2

viii. 85 MPH Changeup – ball 4, just high

5) Jamie Romak lined an RBI single into LF (S7/L)

i. 95 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, low

ii. 95 MPH Fastball – called strike 1-1, inside corner

iii. 95 MPH Fastball – ball 2-1, inside

iv. 95 MPH Fastball – ball 3-1, a little high

v. 93 MPH Fastball

6) Matt Pagnozzi hit a fly ball to CF that started a double play – Frandsen out at home (F/9)

i. 93 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 94 MPH Fastball – ball 1-1, low and in

iii. 84 MPH Changeup – swinging strike 1-2

iv. 94 MPH Fastball

2^nd inning

1) Danny Worth struck out looking (K/Lo)

i. 94 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 94 MPH Fastball – ball 1-1, inside

iii. 94 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 1-2, ugly swing

iv. 95 MPH Fastball – called strike 3

2) Trayvon Robinson hit a comebacker to Matz (G/13)

i. 94 MPH Fastball

3) Robbie Ray struck out looking (K/Lo)

i. 95 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 94 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-2

iii. 95 MPH Fastball – ball 1-2, outside

iv. 94 MPH Fastball – called strike 3

3^rd inning

1) Weber lined out to RF (L/9)

i. 95 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, low and inside

ii. 94 MPH Fastball – ball 2-0, high

iii. 94 MPH Fastball – ball 3-0, low and outside

iv. 95 MPH Fastball – called strike 3-1

v. 94 MPH Fastball

2) Frandsen hit a comeback to Matz (G/13)

i. 95 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1

ii. 94 MPH Fastball – foul 0-2

iii. 76 MPH Curveball – ball 1-2

iv. 76 MPH Curveball

3) O’Brien struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 76 MPH Curveball – ball 1-0

ii. 94 MPH Fastball – foul 1-1

iii. 77 MPH Curveball – called strike 1-2

iv. 86 MPH Changeup – foul 1-2

v. 77 MPH Curveball – swinging strike 3

4^th inning

1) Evans walked (BB)

i. 94 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0

ii. 96 MPH Fastball – ball 2-0, outside

iii. 95 MPH Fastball – ball 3-0, inside

iv. 94 MPH Fastball – ball 4-0, high and inside

2) Romak struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 76 MPH Curveball – ball 1-0

ii. 86 MPH Changeup – called strike 1-1

iii. 94 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 1-2

iv. 95 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3

3) Pagnozzi hit a grounder to Tovar to start a double play (GIDP/643)

i. 77 MPH Curveball – called strike 0-1

ii. 84 MPH Changeup – swinging strike 0-2

iii. 93 MPH Fastball

5^th inning

1) Worth struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 93 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1

ii. 94 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-2

iii. 76 MPH Curveball – swinging strike 3

2) Robinson struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 94 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, high

ii. 76 MPH Curveball – called strike 1-1

iii. 84 MPH Changeup – ball 2-1, up and away

iv. 94 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 2-2

v. 94 MPH Fastball – foul 2-2

vi. 94 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3

3) Ray lined a single into CF (S/L9)

i. 95 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1

ii. 95 MPH Fastball – ball 1-1, high

iii. 94 MPH Fastball – ball 2-1, low

iv. 93 MPH Fastball

4) Weber struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 77 MPH Curveball – called strike 0-1

ii. 84 MPH Changeup – swinging strike 0-2

iii. 94 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3

6^th inning

1) Frandsen hit a single through the right side and into RF (S/G9)

i. 95 MPH Fastball

2) O’Brien struck out looking (K/Lo)

i. 77 MPH Curveball – foul 0-1

ii. 75 MPH Curveball – ball 1-1

iii. 85 MPH Changeup – swinging strike 1-2

iv. 92 MPH Fastball – ball 2-2

v. 94 MPH Fastball – called strike 3

3) Evans struck out looking (K/Lo)

i. 93 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1

ii. 85 MPH Changeup – swinging strike 0-2

iii. 85 MPH Changeup – ball 1-2, up and away

iv. 76 MPH Curveball – called strike 3

4) With Romak batting, Frandsen caught stealing.

i. 77 MPH Curveball – called strike 0-1

7^th inning

1) Romak struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 76 MPH Curveball – called strike 0-1

ii. 86 MPH Changeup – called strike 0-2

iii. 94 MPH Fastball – ball 1-2, inside

iv. 95 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3

2) Pagnozzi struck out looking (K/Lo)

i. 94 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 0-1

ii. 95 MPH Fastball – foul 0-2

iii. 76 MPH Curveball – foul 0-2

iv. 94 MPH Fastball – called strike 3

3) Worth struck out swinging (K/Sw)

i. 77 MPH Curveball – called strike 0-1

ii. 84 MPH Changeup – swinging strike 0-2
iii. 94 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3

Tiny explosions add up to heat corona: http://t.co/cXYgRSf1Gk pic.twitter.com/7uNId9YaDA
— Science News (@ScienceNews) May 1, 2015

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