Bryan Mata

The Red Sox seemingly have a half dozen unproven starting pitchers poised for some form of MLB work in 2023, and Mata is among those. The 6-foot-3 righty underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2021 and made 19 appearances while building up to 83 innings in 2022, primarily working at Double-A and Triple-A. He had an identical 29.4 K% at those levels and an 11.4 BB% at Double-A followed by a 14.7 BB% at Triple-A. Control can be the last skill to return when a pitcher first gets back from TJS, but Mata's strike throwing was suspect even before the procedure. He has had a groundball rate north of 50% at every stop above rookie ball, thanks to a devastating sinker/slider combo. Mata's changeup has emerged as a fine third pitch. It all comes down to his ability to throw enough strikes to start. Boston will surely use Mata in some big-league role this season, as he is on the 40-man roster and could at least help as a multi-inning reliever. The team's other swing men types, save Tanner Houck, can't match Mata's pure stuff, which makes him worth monitoring in spring training and early in the minor-league season.