Like thousands of boys before him, Dylan Mathiesen always dreamed of playing professional baseball.
But if you scour Major League Baseball rosters, you won’t find too many 5-foot-10 right-handed pitchers.
That’s why the 2022 Montour High School graduate wasn’t sure he’d ever get a shot at pro ball.
But that all changed Monday when the hometown Pittsburgh Pirates selected him in the 13th round of the MLB first-year player draft.
The 21-year-old Mathiesen, who spent the last two years pitching at Liberty University, was the 383rd player taken and the first Montour player drafted in recent memory.
Anthony Marks was the most recent Spartan to play professionally – he spent a portion of the 2017 season with the San Francisco Giants organization, but he was signed as a free agent in November 2016 rather than being drafted.
Monday was the culmination of years of hard work for Mathiesen, but the road ahead won’t be any easier, as he underwent reconstructive elbow surgery July 1.
Still, that didn’t take away the joy he felt when he learned the Pirates had made him their No. 13 pick.
“I always wanted to play baseball,” he said Monday night. “But honestly, I didn’t know if it was possible, being an undersized guy and all.
“But this year it started to become possible. Everything was happening for me. It still doesn’t feel real. Now that it’s happening, I can’t even believe it.”
Mathiesen, listed at 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds, started his collegiate career at California University of Pennsylvania, where he went 5-2 with a 3.31 ERA in 12 appearances, nine of which were starts. He struck out 56 batters in 54 1/3 innings and compiled a WHIP of 1.14.
Montour coach Bob Janeda, who watched Mathiesen compile a 7-1 record with 100 strikeouts in 70 innings in helping lead the Spartans to a PIAA title during his senior season, said Mathiesen made the most of that season at CalU.
“He got a lot of quality innings as a freshman there,” Janeda said of Mathiesen, who was named the 2022 WPIAL Class 4A player of the year by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He got noticed, and he parlayed that into an opportunity at Liberty, which is a great baseball school.”
Mathiesen appeared in 14 games as a sophomore at Liberty, starting twice, and went 2-3 with a 6.38 ERA in 24 innings. He struck out 29 and walked 18.
This past season, Mathiesen posted a 2-4 mark with a 5.07 ERA in 17 starts, striking out 84 in 65 2/3 innings while allowing 62 hits and walking 31. He was leading all of NCAA Division I in starts with 16 as of May 6.
Through his first 14 starts, Mathiesen was tied for 15th in Division I with 76 strikeouts – an average of 12.21 strikeouts per nine innings.
“He was in the Top 10 in the country in terms of innings pitched and strikeouts about 60% of the way through the season,” Janeda said. “He was throwing a lot of innings and striking out a lot of guys.
“He was having a great year.”
That all came to an end on May 10 when Mathiesen felt a sharp jolt in his right elbow. At first, it was thought he had strained his forearm muscle but a follow-up appointment with different doctors showed he had a clear tear of the ulnar collateral ligament, and surgery took place July 1.
Still, Janeda said he wasn’t surprised to see Mathiesen get drafted, and neither was Mathiesen, who attended a pre-draft workout with the Pirates at PNC Park during the second week of June. And even though he wasn’t able to throw, he had plenty of time to talk with Pirates personnel and the vibe was positive.
“It felt right – it felt good,” he said. “In the back of my head, I always felt (getting drafted by the Pirates) was possible.”
Mathiesen said he anticipates being sidelined 12 to 14 months. If all goes according to plan, he hopes to be ready to compete for the Pirates’ Florida Complex League (Rookie) team late next season.
Mathiesen’s progress on the mound has come as no surprise to Janeda, who called Mathiesen one of two team MVPs during Montour’s 2022 run to the PIAA title.
Mathiesen helped put the Spartans in that title game by hurling a complete-game 2-1 victory over West Mifflin in the PIAA semifinals
In the seventh inning of that game, West Mifflin had the potential tying run at second with two outs and Mathiesen had reached 100 pitches. Pitchers are allowed to throw 105 pitches in state playoff games. Janeda said he went out to the mound and asked Mathiesen if he wanted to walk the next batter to set up a force play.
“Dylan has always been a very calm, level-headed guy,” Janeda said. “I said, ‘You’re at 100 pitches – you only have five left.’ He said, ‘I only need three to strike him out.’ And he struck him out.”
Mathiesen said neither his size nor the fact that he has a long rehab road ahead of him have him doubting himself.
“I never looked at my (height) as a limitation,” he said. “I’ve always been good about working hard and doing everything I can with my size. In a way, it’s an advantage. Hitters are used to seeing guys 6-foot or taller. They don’t see shorter guys with a lower release point as much.
“I’ve never seen my size as a disadvantage or challenge.”
As for his surgery, Mathiesen said he’s trying to take it in stride – at least figuratively speaking, as surgeons had to take a tendon from his left hamstring to repair his elbow.
“I’m in a good spot mentally,” he said. “I’m not taking it as that much of a negative. Almost every pitcher goes through it nowadays.”
Be First to Comment