Red Sox Pitching Depth Takes Hit, Former Phenom Signs In Japan

Making it to Major League Baseball is very, very difficult, regardless of where a player might land on a list of prospect rankings.

Signed by the Boston Red Sox out of Venezuela in 2016, Bryan Mata was once seen as a future staple of a big-league rotation. He ranked as high as No. 4 on the Red Sox's top prospects list on MLB Pipeline (in 2020), but as he progressed through the farm system, injuries began to take their toll.

Through the end of this season, Mata had still yet to make his major league debut. He ran out of minor-league options, got designated for assignment last offseason, wound up re-signing with the organization, then elected free agency at the end of this season.

Bryan Mata headed to Japan to continue playing career

If Mata's path is ever going to lead to the major leagues, we know know it will come after a detour across the Pacific Ocean.

On Tuesday, MassLive's Chris Cotillo reported that Mata had agreed to a contract with an unidentified team in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, arguably the highest level of baseball outside of MLB.

"The Red Sox, who designated Mata for assignment last winter before re-signing him to a new minor league deal, did not show interest in bringing him back for 2026, according to a source, but he had non-roster offers from more than half of the teams in Major League Baseball as well as other overseas clubs," Cotillo reported. "The identity of his new team should be revealed in the coming days."

For Triple-A Worcester this season, Mata had a 5.08 ERA in 42 appearances. He racked up 93 strikeouts across 67 1/3 innings, but walked 39 batters (far too many) and allowed a .269 batting average.

Injuries definitely played a significant role in Mata's slowed progress, including Tommy John surgery in 2021. But over the last few seasons, he had a pathway to the big-league club if he could have fine-tuned his command.

The strikeouts in his arsenal show that there's still talent to dream on with Mata, but entering his age-27 season, it no longer made sense for Boston to keep waiting.

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