Resilient Matzek finds Rocky Mountain high

In 2009, Tyler Matzek seemed like a can't-miss prospect. He was considered the nation's top prep southpaw, and the Rockies were so impressed with his upside that they went way above the slot recommendation at the deadline to sign him to a $3.9 million bonus.

At 6-foot-3, the 18-year-old was already lighting up radar guns in the upper 90s and Colorado did not hesitate in assigning him to Class A Asheville, where he went 5-1 with a 2.92 ERA in 18 starts. His 62 walks over 89 1/3 innings were more a minor concern than a red flag and there was little in his statistics to suggest that initial lack of command was something greater than simply acclimating to pro ball.

But when Matzek was supposed to be thriving the following year, the opposite was true.

The Southern California fireballer inexplicably fell flat. He lost his control, with his confidence following. Or maybe it was the other way around. Matzek can't pinpoint which came first, but he remembers the harder he battled, the more he flailed.

Zach Wilson, now the Rockies' senior director of player development, was assistant director of scouting at the time Matzek joined the organization. He lauded the teenager's talent and said he was never too concerned about his development because his makeup and intangibles were mature for his age.

"Tyler had a tremendous amount of talent and that was clear not just for us but for the industry," said Wilson, adding he dislikes attaching labels such as "can't-miss" to young players. "The one thing that struck you with Tyler was that he had a presence about him, an aura that surrounded him, that painted a picture of a competitor and that there were things deep down inside of him that couldn't be touched by failure or success or by bonus money or anything and that was what initially impressed me about him.

"As a young player, there's pressure that people put on themselves and there's perceived pressure from other people. When you're in professional baseball, it's hard not to look at results and it's hard to keep focused on process. But to Tyler's credit, he kept focus on the process. He never gave in to any type of failure or obstacle. He was always ready and willing to push through any type of challenge he had. And that is what's so special about Tyler Matzek."

Never was that resilience more necessary than in Matzek's sophomore campaign when he issued 46 walks over 33 innings in 10 games with Class A Advanced Modesto, including eight in two innings on April 25 in San Jose, seven over 4 2/3 frames May 11 in Stockton and five in each of his final three California League starts.

"I just completely lost control of the ball and lost control of myself," said Matzek, who didn't make his high school team as a sophomore. "It was mentally taxing on me and it was just a snowball effect. One led to the other, which led to the other. It was a bad cycle and I had to stop that cycle. Mechanically, looking back, it was just probably a small little change that I could have fixed earlier, but ... it snowballed out of control."

Demoted to Asheville, a change of scenery did little to help. He gave up 14 runs on 14 hits and 15 walks over nine innings in his first three games back in the South Atlantic League. That's when he made the decision to approach Rockies assistant general manager Bill Geivett and ask for a timeout.

Matzek wanted to go home. He knew his mechanics were shot and he didn't feel like he was in any position to compete. It wasn't so much that he wanted a mulligan, just an opportunity to find himself and rediscover the talent he knew he possessed.

"It was very disappointing," Matzek said. "The thought of quitting came into my mind, but I had obviously great family and friends around me that told me, 'That's not what you want to do -- keep working hard.' But going through that, you almost get the mind-set that I've gone through that, so anything else that happens can't be that hard. That was the bottom of the bottom, so anything else is a just a piece of cake. It almost turns that situation into a confident one, saying, 'I've made it through what I perceived to be the worst of the worst mentally and physically, so what's to say there's anything that can stop me?' You just take the positives away from a negative situation.

"It was a really dark place for me. Growing up, I had always been pretty good at baseball. Then to really fall off, it was obviously messing with my head and I fell into a baseball depression and I had to dig myself out of that hole. The dream at the time isn't so much fun when you're doing it, but when you look back, it makes the moment so much sweeter."

Matzek stepped away from Minor League competition for more than a month, working with longtime pitching coach Lon Fullmer back in Mission Viejo. The pair had been working together for the past decade and Matzek didn't know where else to turn.

Matzek told Geivett he needed to go back to basics with the man who'd been his mentor since he was 10.

"I didn't know what I was doing wrong or why I was doing it wrong," he said. "I was young, still 19 at the time, I hadn't really figured out the feel of what it should feel like. I had always just done it and, if I was doing it wrong, I had someone there to tell me I was what I was doing wrong. I had never had to self-correct myself."

Wilson characterized Matzek's time off as "unusual," but he remained confident that it was the right thing to do.

"When you're trying to develop players, I think particularly when you run into some bumps in the road, you don't limit your resources," said Wilson, who has been with the organization since 2002. "I don't think you limit the ways you can continue them down the path of positive development. Sometimes not every player's development is the same and you can't handle every player the same way. For Tyler, it might have been one of the right things to do and one of the right steps to take. All of his ups and downs in his journey have brought him to this point, which at the Major League level has been really, really good."

Matzek owned a 10.70 ERA and 0-5 record in 13 games across two levels before his sabbatical. After returning, he went 5-2 with a 2.78 ERA over the final six weeks of the season, going at least seven innings in five of his last six appearances.

"When he first got moved down, he was a little sad because he was in Modesto to start the year, but he turned his year around," said Dustin Garneau, who caught Matzek in Asheville and later moved up the system with him in Modesto (2012), Tulsa (2013) and Colorado Springs (2014). "He didn't dwell on that much, which was very impressive for a kid that age. He always had the stuff, it was just whether he could put it together. It was big that he was able to overcome the demons he had.

"He got drafted high and got a lot of money. I mean, he's throwing 98 mph in high school; you don't see that very often. He threw OK in his first year and then in his second year he got knocked around and it was an eye-opener for him. He got kicked [around] a lot, but it made him learn real quick."

When Matzek returned to Modesto to begin the 2012 season, he was more confident in his abilities and more humble as a result of his struggles. He continued to work with members of the Rockies pitching staff and roving instructors and he was less reluctant to go back home. He'd learned how to spot the mistakes he was making and, more importantly, how to correct them before they got out of hand.

Matzek never had the breakout season that many expected, but he showed growth with his delivery, built upon his repertoire and handled every challenge with a maturity that was lacking when he went from high school ace to unproven multimillionaire overnight.

He went 6-8 with a 4.62 ERA in the California League in 2012 and followed that with an 8-9 record and 3.79 ERA with Double-A Tulsa in 2013. Last year, the 210-pound southpaw was 5-4 with a 4.05 ERA in 12 starts with Triple-A Colorado Springs when he got an unexpected call into Sky Sox manager Glenallen Hill's office.

"[He] said, 'Hey, Matzek, I got something I have to ask you," Matzek recalled. "He said, 'We had police officers in here earlier and they said they saw you speeding away from a bank robbery and that your vehicle matched the description of it, so the officer is going to come in and talk with you.' I just started looking at him and he said, 'I'm just kidding, you're just going to the big leagues.' I was in shock when he told me, and I had mixed emotions because I was worried. I told him, 'I didn't rob a bank, I swear.' I was just speechless."

One person who wasn't surprised at the callup was Garneau.

"When I first got moved up to [Colorado] Springs in 2014, I got to catch him again," he said, noting that Matzek had improved his delivery, refined his leg kick and turned a good slider into an above-average strikeout pitch. "It wasn't really like it was night and day from 2011, but he was a different animal on the mound. He was facing a lot of guys who had been in the big leagues and he was making them look pretty stupid."

Matzek went on to make 19 starts and one relief appearance for the Rockies. He recorded seven strikeouts and pitched into the eighth inning in his debut against Atlanta on June 11 and finished the year with a 4.05 ERA over 117 2/3 innings. More importantly, he walked only 44 batters compared with 91 strikeouts.

"It was a roller-coaster -- that would probably be the best way to describe it," Matzek said of his journey from high school to the big leagues. "I went from being a prospect where people were expecting a lot of me to falling off the map a little bit and having some rough times. Mechanics are mechanics. There are some fundamental things that have to be in place, but if you don't believe in what you're doing, there's no chance that even the best mechanics will help you succeed."

Added Wilson: "He was always able to handle challenges in his life and his baseball career better than a lot of kids at his age might be able to do and that was unique about Tyler. We did what we do as developers and now it's showing up at the Major League level, which is the ultimate feather in our caps.

"Quite honestly, I don't mind when guys in the system have to deal with challenges and failure. In fact, I'd much rather they do it at the Minor League level than the Major League level. I wouldn't take back a single struggle that he had at the Minor League level because it helped him get better. And now that's showing up at the highest level possible. Quite honestly, I don't even think you've seen the best of Tyler Matzek yet."