Return to MLB Prospect index Brian Matusz - LHP Brian Matusz Scouting Report - Brian Matusz was the fourth overall pick by the Orioles in the 2008 MLB Draft. The Angels selected him in the fourth round of the 2005 draft. - Born February 11th, 1987 in Grand Junction, Colorado. He is listed at 6'5", 200 pounds. - The lefty features both a two-seam and four-seam fastball, along with an excellent change, curve and slider. Matusz has good command of all four pitches and his fastball is usually in the low 90's, but his success will be largely dependent on hitting the corners and pitching to contact, even though he has proven he can strike people out at an effective clip. - He features a very compact delivery and will need better lower body development to improve his fastball's velocity. - He admits to emulating Cole Hamels and the comparison is an obvious one. - Matusz struck out 141 batters in 105.0 innings while walking just 22 during his junior season in 2008 at the University of San Diego. His ERA dropped from 4.25 to 2.85 to 1.71 in his three collegiate seasons. His SWHIP improved to -0.343 as a junior from -0.228 as a sophomore and a relatively modest 0.337 as a freshman. - Matusz's numbers in his junior season compare fairly well to David Price, with the former walking few batters and the latter striking more out. - He signed too late to log any innings in the minors during the 2008 season, but he did strikeout 31 in 26.2 innings in the Arizona Fall League. - Matusz comes to the Orioles as advanced as most pitching prospects. - Ranked 16th by Baseball Prospectus in their Top 100 Prospects for 2009. Brian Matusz Updates RealGM will be tracking Brian Matusz throughout his minor league development and present updates on his progress here and within our Wiretap. Brian Matusz Links - Latest Brian Matusz news via Google - Matusz's Baseball Cube page - Video footage of Matusz warming up while at USD - If you have updates on Brian Matusz that warrant inclusion on this page, please email me at [email protected]