Oliver Mateo

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2018
DSL:  2-2-0, 10.13 ERA, 2.08 WHIP, 29.1 IP, 12.9 BB/9, 15.0 K/9

Pitching in relief, usually one inning at a time, Mateo had a great deal of trouble throwing strikes.  He was also very hard to hit, with opponents batting .190 against him, and he had an extremely high groundball rate of 63%.

2019
R+:  0-0-0, 54.00 ERA, 6.00 WHIP, 0.1 IP, 54.0 BB/9, 27.0 K/9

The Pirates moved Mateo up to Bristol, which was an ambitious promotion.  After one rough outing, though, he went out with a broken finger and missed the rest of the season.

2020
DNP

2021
A:  5-2-7, 4.78 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 37.2 IP, 9.6 BB/9, 19.6 K/9

Mateo spent the season in the Bradenton bullpen.  At the start of the season, he had a very difficult time throwing strikes, but he made significant progress during the season.  In May and June, he had an ERA of 10.38 and walked 23 in 13 innings.  Over the last three months, he had an ERA of 1.82, walked 17 in 24.2 IP, and fanned 55, a K/9 of 20.1.  For the season, opponents hit only .135 and slugged only .214 against him.  Right-handed batters hit .108.

2022
A+:  0-1-5, 5.68 ERA, 1.95 WHIP, 19.0 IP, 11.8 BB/9, 14.2 K/9

The season didn’t go well for Mateo.  Walks were obviously a big problem, but they weren’t the only one.  He missed about half of May with an injury, then was on the development list the rest of the month.  He pitched regularly for Greensboro in June and July, with 13 walks in 11 innings.  Then in early August he was suspended for the rest of the season, for unknown reasons.

Mateo is very tough to hit, but he doesn’t throw nearly enough strikes.  And then there’s the suspension.