OLIVER MATEO, RIGHT HANDED PITCHER
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Born: November 7, 1997 Height: 6’2″ Weight: 170 Bats: Right Throws: Right Signed: Int’l Free Agent, 2018, Pittsburgh Pirates How Acquired: International Free Agent Country: Dominican Republic Agent: N/A |
WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE |
Mateo signed at age 20, but the attraction is obvious: He sits in the mid- to upper-90s and can reach 100 mph. He also throws a curve that’s extraordinarily hard to hit.
2018 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 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 2021 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 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. |
CONTRACT INFORMATION
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2023: Minor League Contract |
PLAYER INFORMATION
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Signing Bonus: N/A MiLB Debut: 2018 MLB Debut: N/A MiLB FA Eligible: 2024 MLB FA Eligible: N/A Rule 5 Eligible: 2021 Added to 40-Man: N/A Options Remaining: 3 MLB Service Time: 0.000 |
TRANSACTIONS
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January 20, 2018: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an international free agent. |