Meet A Prospect : Matt Tracy

Matt Tracy was called up for the game yesterday between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees to give New York a fresh arm in the bullpen after a 19 inning marathon the night before. Tracy was not on the 40 man roster at the time of the call up and is likely not long for the 40 man this time around so we better hurry and introduce you to the latest pitcher to come out of the bullpen for Yankees manager Joe Girardi. Let's meet Mr. Matt Tracy. 

Matthew J. Tracy was born on November 26th, 1988 in St. Louis Missouri. Matt Tracy was drafted in the 24th round of the 2011 MLB First Year Players Draft out of Ole Miss University. Tracy spent most of his time playing in the outfield for the Rebels but the Yankees announced that they would be drafting him as a pitcher after signing him for a $2,000 draft bonus. He has a great pitchers frame at 6'3" and 212 lbs while hitting 94-95 mph on the gun with his two seam fastball.

In his first professional season for the short season Staten Island Yankees Matt pitched 47.1 IP between the bullpen and starting while striking out 48 batters for a 9.13 K/9 and only walking 16 for a 3.14 BB/9 ratio. Matt helped the Staten Island Yankees win the New York Penn League title in 2011. While pitching out of the pen Tracy had a .108 batting average against in 22.3 IP before being moved to the starting rotation. Combined Tracy finished with a 3-2 record with a 2.43 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Matt split his time between Low A Charleston and the Tampa Yankees as a full time starter in 2012 and had a combined 6-7 record with a 3.20 ERA in 19 starts and 104 IP while compiling 68 K's and a 1.29 WHIP.

Since the 2011 season Tracy has been all over the Yankees system including stops in Scranton and Tampa in 2012, Trenton in 2013 with return trips to Trenton and Scranton in 2014. Tracy holds a career 20-22 record in the minor leagues heading into 2015 with a 3.81 ERA and 265 K's in 366 IP. Tracy is not going to go out there and throw 100 MPH and he isn't going to strike out 10-15 batters per nine innings but he can give you solid relief and take one on the chin, or the left arm, much like Rogers and Shreve did on Friday night for the Yankees. 

Welcome to the family and welcome to the big leagues Tracy. You earned it.