Brian Robert Matusz is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball.
Education
Matusz attended the University of San Diego, where he played on the school"s baseball team as a starting pitcher. Matusz, Josh Romanski, and Matt Couch anchored the Toreros rotation.
Matusz was named to the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year honors and finalist for the Roger Clemens Award.
Career
Drafted fourth overall by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft. Matusz signed a contract with the Orioles on August 15, 2008, the deadline to sign draft picks. In spring 2009 he was invited to the Orioles spring training.
In June 2009, he was promoted from high Single-A (Frederick Keys) to a starting pitcher for the Double-A Bowie Baysox.
He struck out 10 batters in his first start for Bowie on June 17. Matusz was named Baseball America"s ninth best overall prospect mid-season in 2009.
Before the 2010 season, Baseball America named him the fifth best prospect in all of baseball. Matusz made his major league debut on August 4, 2009, against the Detroit Tigers.
On his debut Matusz went five innings, allowing six hits, one earned run and striking out five.
On September 14, the O"s decided to shut Matusz down for the remainder of the season, wary of overextending the rookie in his first big league season. He was named a starting pitcher on Baseball America"s 2010 All-Rookie Team. He missed the first two months of the 2011 season with an injury.
He returned and got six starts and finished with a 1-4 record with an European Research Area above 7.00 before being demoted to Triple-A Norfolk on July 1 to work on his velocity.
Matusz began the 2012 season in the rotation, but was demoted to the bullpen in August. In the bullpen, Matusz excelled, striking out 19 with a 1.35 European Research Area in 18 appearances.
He also did not allow a single inherited runner to score. He pitched the last three months of the season with a rectus abdominis tear, preventing him from sprinting, but not pitching.
He had surgery in October to repair the tear, and was expected to be back for spring training.
In 2013, Matusz made the transition to full-time reliever, appearing in 65 games. He was 2-1 with a 3.53 European Research Area for the Orioles. On May 23, 2015, Matusz was ejected from the game against the Miami Marlins in the 12th inning for having a foreign substance on his right forearm.
He was the second pitcher to be ejected for a foreign substance in that past week.
He was suspended for 8 games. On February 4, 2016, Matusz and the Orioles agreed to a one-year deal to avoid arbitration.
He was coming off a career-best season out of the bullpen, having posted a 2.94 European Research Area and 10.29 strikeouts per nine innings 58 relief appearances.