A Look at Matt Heidenreich

It seems like Matt Heidenreich has been around forever. Even though he has been pitching professionally since 2009,  the right-hander is still only 22 years old. The Chicago White Sox drafted Matt in the 4th round of that year’s draft straight out of High School.

The Astros acquired Heidenreich in July of 2012 when Jeff Luhnow moved Brett Myers. At the time Heidenreich was yet another high upside, young pitcher that Luhnow was adding to the previously barren farm system. As we have seen, and Brett Oberholtzer is the perfect example of this, you never can have enough young arms.

Heidenreich appeared in eight games that year (seven starts) for AA Corpus Christi. In those games, he had a respectable 3.93 ERA to go along with a 1.34 WHIP while striking out 26 batters in 34.1 innings.

This season the 22-year old was back pitching for the Hooks for whom he appeared in 25 games, while not having much success. Heidenreich started eight games, and finished seven others. On the season, the right-hander had a 4-5 record. Although he completed seven games, they were in mop up situations, as Heidenreich did not record any saves.

By sending him to Arizona, the Astros are certainly trying to see what they have in Heidenreich. After recording a 8.23 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP, he certainly has some things to work on. But there is also some talent to work with here as well.