ATLANTA — In August of 2019, Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos got an email from his vice president of scouting, Dana Brown, suggesting the team sign a 28-year-old lefty out of independent ball. Also, the guy was recovering from the yips.
This idea made no sense. Even if the kid was any good, there were two weeks left in the minor league season. Why would they sign a dude who would be a free agent in two weeks?
Anthopoulos called Brown. “He pushed and he pushed and he pushed,” said Anthopoulos.
On Aug. 15, Atlanta signed Tyler Matzek to a two-year minor league deal.