Red Sox Flame-Throwing Prospect Impressing After Tommy John Surgery

One of the Boston Red Sox’s top prospects continues to trend in the right direction.

Bryan Mata made his first official outing since 2019 on June 6 after receiving Tommy John surgery. The hard-throwing right-hander reached 100 mph while ramping up and is now getting back in the swing of things, and producing favorable results.

The Red Sox’s No. 7 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, has a 1.65 ERA with 39 strikeouts, 16 walks and a 1.67 batting average against in 27 1/3 innings between Single-A Salem, High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland.

Since completing his rehab assignments and landing with the Portland Sea Dogs, he’s been nearly unhittable. The 23-year-old has a 0.55 ERA with a 22-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 16 1/3 innings across four games.

Mata has plenty of electric stuff, but keeping his control and command will be key moving forward. For now, the Red Sox faithful should just be excited to see the highly-touted prospect back on the mound and looking better than ever.