Mark Mathias was claimed off waivers Sunday by the Seattle Mariners, his fifth Major League Baseball organization. He has been optioned to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers.
Mustangs in Pros: Mathias to Seattle; Another Quality Start for Woo
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Mark Mathias has landed in his fifth Major League baseball organization.
The former Cal Poly standout and 2014 Big West Conference Field Player of the Year, designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates last week, was claimed off waivers by the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Seattle optioned Mathias to Tacoma and he is expected to make his debut with the Triple-A Rainiers on Tuesday at Reno.
Mathias, 28, has made prior stops with Cleveland, Milwaukee, Texas and Pittsburgh since he was drafted in the third round (93rd overall selection) by Cleveland in 2015. Before being cast off the Bucs' 40-man roster, Mathias saw action in 22 games at the big-league level this season and slashed .231/.355/.269 across 62 plate appearances.
Mathias also played six games with the Milwaukee Brewers and 24 with the Texas Rangers in 2022 and made his Major League debut in 2020 with the Brewers, playing in 16 games. He did not play at all in 2021 due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder suffered in a Cactus League game.
Mathias owns a .249 career batting average in the Majors with 20 runs scored, eight doubles, six home runs, 28 RBI, seven stolen bases and 19 walks, getting on base at a .323 clip and slugging .402 with a .725 OPS. He has appeared in 26 games in the infield and 15 games in the outfield in the big leagues.
Meanwhile, pitcher Bryan Woo made his sixth Major League start for the Mariners on Monday against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park, across the bay from his hometown of Alameda, and ended up with another no-decision.
Seattle won the game 6-5 and Woo allowed two runs and three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts, leaving the game with the score tied at 2-2.
Woo was pitching in front of a large crowd that included more than 100 friends and family, including his 93-year-old grandfather, who was watching him for the first time in person. A huge Giants fan growing up, Woo twirled six innings and his lone blemish was a fastball way above the zone that Blake Sabol crushed for a two-run homer in the fourth.
"You can't really be mad at making a pitch like that and just kind of tip your cap and try to get on to the next guy," Woo told Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. Woo faced 23 batters and retired each of his final seven batters after the homer.
"He was really focused all night," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "He's pretty calm, cool and collected. He's California cool. I'll go with that. He handled it great tonight."
Woo, who surrendered six earned runs in two innings in his Major League debut June 3 at Texas, is 1-0 with a 2.36 ERA since, striking out 35 batters over 26 2/3 innings. His win was at the New York Yankees on June 22, tossing 5 1/3 scoreless innings with two hits, no walks and five strikeouts.
Woo is 1-1 overall and has dropped his ERA from 10.80 after the Texas game to 4.08 with 39 strikeouts over 28 2/3 innings.
Woo is the only current active former Mustang in the Major Leagues, though as many as six ex-Cal Poly players have appeared in a Major League contest this season.
Shown in game earlier this season,
Bryan Woo delivers a pitch for the Seattle Mariners.
Justin Bruihl made two appearances on the mound for the Dodgers last week, both one-inning scoreless stints in relief, in his third call-up of the season before he was sent back to Oklahoma City to make room for Julio Urias, activated form the 15-day Injury List. Bruihl, 1-0 with a 3.72 ERA in 14 games with the Dodgers this season, can be sent back to the Minors only once more this year.
Outfielder Mitch Haniger of the San Francisco Giants is on the 60-day Injury List after breaking a bone in his forearm June 13 at St. Louis and undergoing surgery.
Spencer Howard opened his 2023 season on the 60-day Injury List before making his season debut June 9 against Tampa Bay and allowing four runs and four hits while securing just one out. He was sent to Triple-A Round Rock the next day.
Erich Uelmen made one appearance on the mound for the Phillies in a mid-May call-up and faced his old club, the Chicago Cubs. He allowed four runs (one earned) and two hits with two walks in one inning May 19 and was sent back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Uelmen currently is on the seven-day Injury List with an undisclosed injury.
In the Minors, Drew Thorpe continues to impress the Yankees brass following his seventh win of the season Monday night.
Thorpe (7-1 with a 2.33 ERA) pitched five scoreless innings for High-A Hudson Valley of the South Atlantic League against Wilmington, giving up four hits with eight strikeouts. Thorpe is first in the Sally League in wins and innings pitched (77 1/3), second in strikeouts (94) and sixth in opponents' batting average (.212).
Jason Franks earned his third save for the Augusta Green Jackets on Saturday against Columbia and has allowed just three runs in his last 13 outings on the mound (15 2/3 innings), lowering his ERA from 10.80 to 5.79.
Shortstop Brooks Lee is first in the Texas League in doubles (25) and 13th in RBIs (43) with a .265 average in 68 games at Double-A Wichita. He went 3-for-4 with a double and home run against Northwest Arkansas on June 28 and has 21 multiple-hit games this season.
Catcher Nick Meyer is 7-for-12 over his last four games at Triple-A Syracuse, lifting his average 25 points to .237. He hit a pair of home runs against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 28.
Outfielder Nick Torres is third in the Mexican League in doubles (25), 12th in RBIs (43), 14th in home runs (10) and 17th with his .344 batting average for the Laguna Vaqueros. He hit .382 in the month of May and .322 in June.
Follow the progress of all former Cal Poly baseball players in the professional ranks by clicking the link at the top of the page.
