Rockies First Round Pick Matzek Assigned to Casper
August 24, 2009 - Pioneer League (PL)
Casper Ghosts News Release
Casper- The Colorado Rockies have signed 2009 first round draft pick Tyler Matzek and have assigned him to the Casper Ghosts. Matzek will join the team on Tuesday August 25th.
The following information is courtesy of colorado.rockies.mlb.com.
Matzek, 6-feet-3 and 210 pounds, went 13-1 with a 0.97 ERA (86.2 ip, 12 er) in 15 games for Capistrano Valley in 2009. Opponents hit just .144 (40-for-277) off him in 2009. He was also 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 3 starts during the California State Playoffs to lead Capistrano Valley to the California State Championship. Matzek was ranked the 6th best pitching prospect available in the draft by Baseball America, and 8th best prospect overall in the draft by the publication. Matzek was also rated the second best prospect in the state of California by Baseball America.
Matzek tossed 6 complete games (7.0 innings in high school), and 5 complete game shutouts for Capistrano Valley this season. Matzek also tossed a no-hitter on March, 20 against Aliso Niguel High School. Matzek allowed one run or less in his final 8 games this season, including no runs in each of his final 4 games. Matzek's 13 wins were tied for the most in the state of California, and tied for 5th most in the nation.
This is the 4th consecutive year that the Rockies have taken a pitcher with the club's first overall draft selection, the seventh time to take a high school pitcher. Matzek is the first high school player the club has taken with their initial pick since selecting Chris Nelson first in 2004. The other high school pitchers taken by the Rockies with the club's first overall pick: Jamey Wright (1993), Doug Million (1994), Jake Westbrook (1996), Mark Mangum (1997), Matt Roney (1998) and Matt Harrington (2000). Colorado has now taken a pitcher as its first pick 12 times in 17 drafts.
Pioneer League Stories from August 24, 2009
- Eric Smith promoted to South Bend - Missoula PaddleHeads
- Rockies First Round Pick Matzek Assigned to Casper - Casper Ghosts
- Osprey host Voyagers in key 3-game series beginning Tuesday - Missoula PaddleHeads
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