A Patch From A Blue Devil

Heading into the 2015 college baseball season there were many people who followed amateur baseball who had Duke pitcher Michael Matuella pegged as the top draft pick in last summer's June draft.  Welp, Matuella never finished the year and ended up undergoing Tommy John.  The Rangers still drafted him in the third round last summer.  

Matuella sat out the entire season last year and returned to the mound for a short time this summer for the Rangers.  In fact, he made one start on an injury rehab for the the team's low A Spokane Indians.  Matuella pitched 3 innings, allowed one hit, and gave up no runs.  He also hurt his arm again and is out for the rest of this summer.  Kind of a bummer.  

I am still trying to find some cards of the former Duke star and ran across a really nice one out of Leaf Trinity a few weeks back.....

I am not sure about the whole player-worn patch out of a 2015 product with a piece of Rangers jersey, but I guess I did not pay very much for the card and it looks really cool.  Maybe he jogged around the field in this jersey or something.  In any case, I really enjoyed watching him play while he was at Duke and will continue to collect his cards regardless of whether he makes it back from his injuries.  

Since many probably did not get a chance to see him in college, here's a little video Baseball America put together of him pitching against UNC.  

 

Finally Matuella

A quick post for your Sunday morning.  Hoping to post a little more this week than I did last week. 

Two years ago I had the opportunity to see Micahel Mattuella pitch a game for the Duke Blue Devils.  He was easily the best player on the field and I was excited to follow his college career.  Heading into his junior year, last year, many thought of him as a candidate to be the first overall pick by the Diamondbacks.  However, early in the year he was shut down and ended up having Tommy John surgery.  His stock dropped, but the Rangers ended up picking him in 3rd round of the draft last summer. 

Matuella will be making his first appearance in a Minor League game at some point this summer.  I am hopefully that he can bounce back from the Tommy John and be a serious prospect for the Rangers.  In the meantime, the talented former Blue Devil has started to pop up on some baseball cards.  One of the best parts of going to college baseball games is watching players, seeing them drafted, and then finding their cards a few years later. 

This is my first Matuella baseball card, but certainly will not be my last.  I am usually not into the Leaf cards, but some of their draft cards look nice in spite of the fact that the logos are airbrushed off of the uniforms.  I like this card with the giant North Carolina flag in the background.  Really nice card.  Hopefully I will have a few more Matuella autographs soon.  I have two other autographs of his on my radar, one with Duke, another with the Rangers.