Matt Sauer

Matthew David Sauer

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 230 lb.
• High School Righetti High School
• Debut March 31, 2024

• Born January 21, 1999 in Santa Maria, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Matt Sauer was a 2nd-round selection by the New York Yankees in the 2017 amateur draft, out of a high school in California. He gave up a commitment to attend the University of Arizona in order to sign with the Yankees. While he was a highly-touted prospect, his progression through their system was slowed by injuries. After making 13 starts - basically a full season - in the New York-Penn League in 2018, he was limited to just 2 outings for the Charleston AlleyCats of the South Atlantic League in 2019, and then had to sit out the entire 2020 season when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the minor leagues.

While many pitchers in his situation were eased back into action in 2021, Matt was not treated with kid gloves, making 21 starts in 23 outings and logging 111 1/3 innings between two teams in Low-A and High-A that year, finishing at 5-6, 4.69. In 2022, he made 22 starts between the Class A Hudson Valley Renegades and AA Somerset Patriots, going 5-5, 4.54, his ERA being brought down by his lack of success in AA, where he was touched for a 7.84 ERA in 4 starts. In 2023, he made 16 starts in 17 appearances, mainly with Somerset, but also at a couple of lower levels on rehabilitation assignments, as injuries got to him again. He went 6-5, 3.41 overall. He then pitched in the Arizona Fall League, going 0-3, 5.91 in 9 games, but his stuff evidently impressed the Kansas City Royals, who took him with the second overall pick of the 2023 Rule V Draft. They explained that he already had the capacity of being a reliever in the majors, but that they still saw him in the longer term as a starting pitcher. The first two players taken in the draft were Yankee farmhands, both pitchers, and a third, Carson Coleman, was taken a few picks later, a clear sign that the Bronx Bombers had more pitchers close to being big-league-ready than they could fit on their 40-man roster.

He made his major league debut with Kansas City on March 31, 2024, pitching one inning of scoreless relief in an 11-0 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Related Sites

• Matt Sauer on mlb.com
• BR Minors page