Cardinals Farm Report

On June 2nd of this past summer, the St. Louis Cardinals agreed on a contract with Carlos Matias that is worth $1.5 million. Now, barely three months later, Matias finds himself shooting up the prospect lists.

Not many fans knew anything at all about the 17-year-old when he agreed on a deal with the Cards, but they soon realized how special this kid can be. This season, he pitched in 12 games (all starts) with the Cardinals Dominican Summer League team. In those games, Matias went 3-2, with a 0.76 ERA, 0.712 WHIP, and one complete game in 59 innings. He rocked a 4.3 H/9 rate, a 0.2 HR/9, 2.1 BB/9, 12 SO/9, and a 5.57 SO/BB rate. If those numbers don’t make your jaw drop, nothing will. For a pitcher that is barely 18, those numbers are remarkable.

Yet, while those stats are pretty amazing, it is his repertoire of pitches that makes every Cardinal fan drool. His high-90’s fastball is a true 80 on the 20-80 scouting scale. In fact, Baseball America said his fastball is “one of the best fastballs at any level of baseball.”

“He has outstanding control,” said Moises Rodriguez, the Cardinals director of international operations. “People tend to get excited when you see velocity in the high-90s, but he’s throwing upper-90s with excellent control.”

His stuff does not end there. Those that have seen Matias in person have called his mid-80’s changeup with sinking action above average, but his best secondary pitch is his 78-80 mph curve with late movement. Several months ago Ben Badler, who scouts international players for BA, indicated, “[Matias] might be the best pitcher any team signs this year on the international market.”

Many scouts consider Carlos to be the equivalent of a first-round draft pick, which is a huge reason why most believe the Cardinals Farm system is quickly being restored back to the state it was in before the trades in 2009.

Last year Matias reached an agreement with the Boston Red Sox for $160,000 but that was revoked after he failed an MLB investigation. Matias was suspended for a year after the incident, but that proved to be a blessing in disguised. He not only agreed to a contract worth more money, he also brought his fastball up about five mph during the layoff.

This was a concern in June when the Cardinals agreed to the deal, but according to B.J. Rains, “[Jeff] Luhnow said they completed a big hurdle and are very confident about getting Matias to the US in the near future.”

If you would like to watch video of Carlos Matias, head over to Rising Redbirds.