SAL notes: Matheny continues family legacy
As the son of a long-time Major League catcher and the current manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Tate Matheny entered professional baseball last year with a solid understanding of the challenges the game offers its participants.
His knowledge of the family business, however, provided little advantage during his initial 52 games on the field. Despite scoring eight times in his first nine contests, the versatile outfielder and son of Mike Matheny batted .181/.233/.218 with 20 RBIs at Lowell in the New York-Penn League. The experience was an eye-opener as well as a reality check for the young man who grew up in professional clubhouses and ballparks.
"You have to make the adjustments in this game," said the Greenville Drive outfielder. "Everybody at this level is talented. In college you run across some guys who may not be as talented as others but you get here and everybody has a lot of talent and the ability to make a big difference any day. To compete at this level you must have the right approach and the all-around baseball knowledge to play this game."
No one has ever doubted the younger Matheny's ability. After leading Westminster Christian Academy to two Class 3 Missouri state titles in high school, he continued to have success at Missouri State, where he earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honors all three seasons and was twice named the team's most valuable player. In 169 games with the Bears, Matheny batted .319 with 19 home runs, 106 RBIs and a .411 on-base percentage.
That performance convinced the Boston Red Sox to use their third pick in the 2015 Draft on the talented outfielder, nabbing him in the fourth round with the 111th overall selection.
"I would never trade my college experience for anything, between the friendships and what I learned," said Matheny, who was drafted in the 23rd round by the Cardinals out of high school but gave no consideration to signing. "I think the biggest thing I learned was how to fail. In high school, guys are hitting .500, but that doesn't happen in college. You have to learn to fail, learn how to cope with it and understand that it's part of the game. You have to learn how to move on and adjust in order to have success over the long haul."
Matheny put his education to use last winter after his struggles at Lowell. The results through the first four months of the 2016 campaign have been impressive. The outfielder ranks fourth in the South Atlantic League with a .315 batting average through Aug. 2 while posting a .354 on-base percentage and a .446 slugging percentage. He also has batted in each of the first six spots in the lineup while seeing time in both right and center field.
"Last year I really struggled because I had a hard time making the adjustment between college and pro ball," Matheny said. "This past offseason, I really got to work by figuring out my swing and getting back to what I was used to doing, which is using the whole field and getting my pitch to hit. I think that's been the big difference this year -- getting my approach back and not trying to do too much."
Even though the Drive has struggled late in games to pull out victories, Matheny believes the team is on the verge of turning the corner and contending for the second-half crown in the Southern Division. In the meantime, his goal is centered on figuring out how to make things happen on a consistent basis while living what he describes as "every kid's dream job."
"All I'm trying to do is find a way to help the team win every day, regardless of whether that's getting a hit or moving the runner over or dropping a bunt down or making plays on defense," Matheny said. "At the end of the day the goal is to score more runs than the other team and win the game."
In brief
New team, same league: The Yankees-Rangers deal that sent outfielder Carlos Beltran to Texas had an impact on the SAL. Pitchers Dillon Tate and Erik Swanson, two key pieces in the trade, were assigned to Charleston after both hurlers spent the first four months of the campaign with Hickory. Tate, the fourth overall pick in the 2015 Draft, was 3-3 with a 5.12 ERA in 17 outings -- 16 starts -- with the Crawdads. Swanson was named to the Northern Division squad for the SAL All-Star Game this year and was 6-4 with a 3.43 ERA in 81 1/3 innings with Hickory.
Pretty pitching: Delmarva continues to play well, thanks in large part to the team's pitching. The Shorebirds won three straight games versus West Virginia last week while allowing only one earned run combined during the contests. On July 30, Brian Gonzalez tossed six strong innings to guide Delmarva to its 11th shutout of the season, which ranks second in the league behind Charleston's 13 whitewashes. In 2015, the Shorebirds had 12 shutouts, which represented the second-highest total in team history.
Sagdal's scorching: No batter has been hotter of late than Hagerstown second baseman Ian Sagdal. The Washington native entered Wednesday's contest riding a 16-game hitting streak, which is tied for the second-longest in the league this season and only one behind the string put together by Asheville first baseman Brian Mundell. During this stretch Sagdal is 29-for-67 (.433) with an on-base percentage of .479. His 29 hits include seven doubles, a triple and four home runs, and he has driven in 15 runs. On the season, Sagdal has moved into ninth on the SAL batting average leaderboard with a .289 mark.
Bill Ballew is a contributor to MiLB.com.
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