Rick Matula

Richard Carlton Matula

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 190 lb.
• School Sam Houston State University
• High School Wharton (TX) High School
• Debut April 8, 1979
• Final Game June 11, 1981
• Born November 22, 1953 in Wharton, TX USA

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Biographical Information

Rick Matula was originally drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 16th round of the 1972 amateur draft, however he chose not to sign. Next drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 14th round of the 1976 amateur draft, he chose to sign and he began his professional career that same year. Pitching for the Kingsport Braves, Matula went 3-5 with a 2.63 ERA in 20 appearances (48 innings). He also appeared in three games for the Greenwood Braves, posting a 1-0 record and 7.50 ERA in six innings of work. Overall that season, Matula went 4-5 with a 3.17 ERA in 54 innings of work.

In 1977, Matula split time between the Greenwood Braves and Savannah Braves. With Greenwood, he went 2-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 21 innings of work. With Savannah, he went 8-5 with a 3.24 ERA in 100 innings (22 games). Combined, he went 10-6 with a 3.05 ERA.

Matula went a combined 10-5 with a 3.12 ERA in 127 innings in 1978. He split time between the Savannah Braves and Richmond Braves.

On April 8, 1979, Matula made his major league debut at the age of 25. Although he gave up no walks and only two earned runs in seven innings of work, he still lost against the Houston Astros starter, Joe Niekro (Niekro pitched a complete game shutout).

His 13 losses were the ninth most in the 1980 National League.

For the majority of the 1981 season, Matula was in the minors, with the Richmond Braves. He appeared in 16 games for them, making 11 starts and going 7-4 with a 2.97 ERA. He didn’t do so well in the majors, making five relief appearances and posting an ERA of 6.43. He played his final major league game on June 11th that year.

On March 29, 1982, he was released by the Braves. He played for the Evansville Triplets in the Detroit Tigers organization and Denver Bears in the Texas Rangers organization, going a combined 3-8 with a 5.62 ERA in 36 appearances, (10 starts).

Statistically, he is most similar to Ray Semproch, according to the Similarity Scores at Baseball-Reference.com (through July, 2008).