Missouri State OF Tate Matheny Selected by Boston Red Sox in Fourth Round of 2015 MLB Draft
Missouri State outfielder Tate Matheny has been selected by the Boston Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2015 MLB Draft (pick 111). Matheny was ranked 103rd among prospects in the 2015 draft class by MLB.com.
Matheny, the son of Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, is a native of St. Louis and attended Westminster Christian Academy, where he led the school to back-to-back state championships in his junior and senior seasons. He was previously drafted by the Cardinals in the 23rd round of the 2012 draft but did not sign. The senior Matheny had previously said he preferred that his son not be taken by the Cardinals organization to avoid the challenges presented to players such as Chris Duncan, the son of then-Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, while playing in the same organization where his father coached. However, in recent days, Matheny had publicly reneged on those comments and said it might be best for Tate to come up through the Cardinals organization.
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He enjoyed spectacular freshman and sophomore seasons at Missouri State, hitting .336 with four homers an OPS of .855 as a freshman and then hitting .330 with 10 homers and an OPS of .949 in 2014. Matheny fell off a bit as a junior, hitting .291 with an .866 OPS and five homers. He’s projected as a plus contact hitter in the pros but may be limited to a fourth outfielder role because of his lack of a real standout tool.
If Matheny chooses to sign with Boston, he’ll likely have a hard time making his way into Boston’s big-league outfield anytime soon. The Sox have left fielder Hanley Ramirez under contract through at least 2018 with an option for 2019, while center fielder Mookie Betts is under club control until 2021 and right fielder Rusney Castillo is in the midst of a seven-year, $72.5 million-dollar deal and is Red Sox property until 2020.