When the Cubs took graduate student Peter Matt out of Duke at the end of the second day of the MLB draft, I was pretty sure Matt was just a senior sign and the Cubs took him to save some money. Well, the Cubs did save some money and they may have found themselves a hitter with some impressive bat speed.
Basic Information
Age – 22
Position – OF
Height – 6-foot-2
Weight – 220
Bats – Right
Throws – Right
What I Said on Draft Day
He hit 15 HRs this year at Duke, Went to Penn for four years before that. He didn’t hit a lot of dingers there, but he sure did at Duke.
Matt spent four years at the University of Pennsylvania where he had a career average of .311 with an onbase percentage of .387. He had a whopping total of four home runs in four years but he got on base.
Matt then transferred to Duke as a grad student and in one season in the ACC, Matt cranked out 12 home runs and drove in 37 while hitting .291 with a .387 OBP against much better competition than he faced at Penn.
At 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, Penn is a pretty stout guy but somehow the Blue Devils were able to tap in to Matt’s size and get him to begin to realize his power potential.
After debuting in the Arizona Complex League, Matt was promoted quickly to Myrtle Beach. And the first thing I noticed when I saw him it was how fast his bat gets through this zone. I’m like, “Hey! The Cubs may have something here!” We’ll see how it plays out next year when Matt will most likely be at South Bend. He will be 23 years old when next season begins. I’m excited to see just exactly how he does.
Cubs Central 