Right-handed prospect Bryan Mata brings on the heat in Triple-A debut with WooSox

WORCESTER — The future of the Boston Red Sox has been on display all season at Polar Park.

It continued Tuesday night when pitching prospect Bryan Mata made his Triple-A debut. The 23-year-old right-hander worked three innings, allowed one run on two hits with four walks and one strikeout. He threw 72 pitches (40 strikes).

While the WooSox dropped a 14-3 decision to the Buffalo Bisons, the 5,144 in attendance witnessed yet another possible piece of Boston’s potential starting rotation sooner than later.

“I feel it wasn’t that bad,” Mata said with the help of WooSox bench coach Jose Flores, who served as interpreter. “There are things I need to improve. ... I was able to work out of some trouble early in the innings, and I feel like I can control my emotions a little more.”

WooSox manager Chad Tracy thought the prospect’s outing was decent. The Bisons worked some deep counts and long at-bats that forced up his pitch count to 72, so Tracy felt it best to pull the plug after three innings.

“I thought he was competitive. They just drew some good at-bats against him and were able to lengthen out the pitch count,” Tracy said.

Mata consistently reached the high 90s with his fastball, including one that hit 100 mph.

“It’s easy velocity and doesn’t look like there’s any effort to it at all,” Tracy said. “It’s fun to see a guy throw the ball that hard with that little effort.”

Tracy added that he was encouraged by Mata’s brief outing.

“It’s good stuff — no doubt,” the manager said. “There’s obviously a very good base to work from there when you see that kind of stuff, and he’s got a good breaking ball and threw some good changeups. He’ll be just fine.”

The future of the Red Sox rotation could be solid if the likes of Mata, Brayan Bello, Connor Seabold, Josh Winckowski and Kutter Crawford continue to develop, either in Boston or Worcester.

“We’ve had a lot of guys move north this year, and some of those have been first-timers, and it’s been really cool,” Tracy said.

Tracy admitted prior to Tuesday’s game that other than watching video, he had not seen Mata throw a pitch. Even though this is Tracy’s first season in the Red Sox organization, he sees the potential.

“It’s good,” he said. “There was talk about getting homegrown pitchers up (to Boston), and you’re starting to see some guys show up who have a chance to be really good. It’s not an easy thing to go up and tear up the big leagues right when you arrive, because you’ve got to go through some stuff. To see the caliber of arms we’ve had on this club and start to go up there, you’d like to see them get seasoned, and you can dream forward what it could be like, and they’re certainly some exciting arms.”

The WooSox manager was quick to point out Zack Kelly’s major league debut Monday for Boston against the Minnesota Twins. The right-hander reliever, who has been one of the WooSox’ best pitchers the entire season, worked one shutout inning, allowed one hit and struck out two for the Red Sox.

Tracy worked player development for the Angels when Kelly was a pitching prospect with that organization in 2020. Unfortunately, the young hurler suffered an elbow injury and was released. The Red Sox signed him as a free agent prior to the 2021 season, and he’s been solid since, so it was a special moment for Tracy to give Kelly the news.

“I actually saw him get released, so to be able to tell him (he was getting called up) and to give him a big hug, he was almost tearing up, so it’s very cool to tell guys, ‘You’ve accomplished what you set out to do in the big leagues, but don’t be satisfied with just getting there. Don’t be afraid of the situation and see if you can stick now.’ So it’s been fun and rewarding,” Tracy said.

Similar to Bello’s quick rise through the Red Sox development system, the biggest challenge for Mata is to execute his pitches against better batters. That means the batters swing at fewer pitches outside the strike zone, and many have big-league experience, so they step into the box with a plan.

Mata was outstanding this season at Double-A Portland, especially after missing all of 2021 due to Tommy John surgery. After a year-long rehab, he returned to game action in June, and after stops in Salem and Greenville, he joined the Sea Dogs on June 22. In 10 appearances (nine starts), he posted a 1.85 ERA and struck out 58 in 48⅔ innings. He walked only 23.

“The most important thing right now is that I’m healthy,” Mata said. “I need to continue to learn on a daily basis, and hopefully things continue in a positive direction.”

He entered his Triple-A debut with an 18-inning scoreless streak. After two scoreless innings for the WooSox, Mata allowed a run in the third.

“The hitters are a little bit better,” Tracy said. “Each level you go the hitters get a little more disciplined.”

—Contact Joe McDonald at JMcDonald2@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeyMacHockey.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Right-handed prospect Bryan Mata shows promise in debut with WooSox