For Red Sox, clock ticking as decision on former top pitching prospect looms

The clock is ticking for the Red Sox to make a decision — once and for all — on someone who was once considered the top pitching prospect in the entire organization.

25-year-old right-hander Bryan Mata was transferred to High-A Greenville on Saturday to continue his rehab assignment, which started Monday with a two-inning outing in the Florida Complex League in Fort Myers. Mata, who is out of minor league options and currently on the 60-day injured list with a left hamstring strain he suffered in spring training, has just 30 days to show the Red Sox what they can do before a decision will be due. June 11 marks the 30th day of Mata’s rehab assignment, so by June 12 (unless Mata gets hurt again), the Red Sox will have to either activate Mata to the active roster or place him on waivers, likely by designating him for assignment. At this point, they’re looking at him as a reliever and not a starter.

“We’ve got to make a decision at one point,” said manager Alex Cora. “He’s very talented. He is talented. We’ve been talking about him for a while. It just hasn’t happened. Inconsistency, and being hurt. Hopefully, he stays healthy and then we have to make a decision.”

Mata, who signed out of Venezuela in Jan. 2016, got on scouts’ radars with strong seasons in 2016 and 2017 and was selected to the All-Star Futures Game in July 2018, while at High-A Salem. Armed with a high-velocity fastball, two breaking balls and a changeup, he climbed up prospect charts and was ranked by Baseball Americas as one of the top six prospects in the system in 2018, 2019 and 2020, peaking at No. 4. After the 2020 minor league season was canceled, Mata missed all of 2021 and half of 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Last year, a right teres major strain limited him to 27 innings at Triple-A. The repeated injuries — and some questions about Mata’s between-start routines — completely sidetracked his path to the majors despite the fact he was added to the 40-man roster in Nov. 2020.

Mata used options in 2021, 2022 and 2023 despite never reaching the majors. So he can’t be sent down to the minors again without clearing waivers. To send him to the WooSox, the Red Sox would effectively have to offer him up to every other team in the league in a scenario that’s unlikely to result in them keeping the righty. A source recently told MassLive’s Sean McAdam that the Red Sox believe Mata, if healthy, would almost certainly be claimed by another team due to his tantalizing pitch mix. The spring training injury allowed the Red Sox to kick the decision down the road; if Mata was healthy at the end of camp, they would have had to make the call then.

With that in mind, it appears Boston will give him a chance to impact the big league club as a reliever. He hit 98 mph in his first rehab outing Monday, allowing one run on three hits while striking out two in Fort Myers. Saturday’s promotion to Greenville represents the next step in what is a unique situation for the club and player.

“Throw strikes and hopefully, the stuff is back,” Cora said. “It’s hard. We’ll see what happens in the upcoming weeks. Hopefully he stays healthy. That’s the most important thing. We’ll go from there.”