Random Wednesday: Matt Riley
February 6, 2008 by Geoff Young
Filed under News
Ah, this brings back memories. The Baltimore Orioles nabbed left-hander Matt Riley in the third round of the 1997 draft. I picked him up in a fantasy league in ‘99 on the strength of his 13-8, 3.03 performance at Single- and Double-A as a 19-year-old.
Riley actually made three starts for the big club at the end of ‘99 and then disappeared for several years. He posted a 6.78 ERA in the minors in 2000 and missed all of the following season. Riley pitched in 2002, but his ERA again was stratospheric (6.36).
Riley finally returned to the big leagues in 2003, making two starts for the O’s. He made 13 more the next season, going 3-4 with a 5.63 ERA.
In 2005, Riley went 1-0 with a 9.95 ERA in seven relief appearances for the Texas Rangers. Since then, he’s been toiling in the minors, most recently posting a 5.19 ERA over 45 appearances at Jacksonville and Las Vegas in the Dodgers system.
Riley’s career numbers: 97.2 IP, 5.99 ERA. He didn’t pitch enough for Baseball-Reference to list comps, but two guys that I found on my own are Bill Burbach and the legendary Terry “0-16″ Felton.
