Baseball in Fort Wayne

Tomorrow, Mat Latos will make his Major League debut when he takes the mound for the San Diego Padres against the Colorado Rackies. When he does so, he will have gone from A-Ball to the Majors is what amounts to half a season. Granted, this was not his first year in A-ball:

He made his professional debut with the short-season Single-A Eugene Emeralds in 2007, going 1-4 with a 3.83 ERA, although he struck out 74 in 56 1/3 innings. Latos was limited to 56 innings last season with three low Single-A and Rookie teams due to spending three months on the disabled list with a sore shoulder. After spending time in the Padres’ major league camp this spring, Latos’start of the season was slightly delayed by a sprained ankle. He opened with low Single-A Fort Wayne [signonsandiego.com].

The 21-year-old right hander was drafted by the Padres in the 11th round (333rd overall) of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft. In 2008, he appeared in seven games with the Wizards, going 0-3 with a 3.28 earned run average. He struck out 23 and walked eight over 24.2 innings pitched.

This year, he began the season with the TinCaps, where he compiled a 3-0 record and a miniscule .036 earned run average while striking out 27 and walking just three over 25.1 inning spitched.

Since his promotion to Double-A San Antonio, he has dominated nearly as much. In nine games that spans 47 innings, Latos is 5-1 with a 1.91 ERA, while striking out 46.

“He’s answered the call on everything we’ve asked him to do,” Padres vice president of scouting and player development Grady Fuson said after Latos was promoted to San Antonio in May. “He’s down in the strike zone, his velocity is great, his changeup is great. He’s ready to be challenged [MLB.com].

Latos’ debut will mark the 83rd Fort Wayne alumnus to make the Majors. He’ll be the seventh on the season and hold the distinction of being the first (and only for the moment) who played while wearing both a Wizards jersey and a TinCaps jersey.

UPDATE: TinCaps Issue Press Release:

“We knew Mat had huge potential, but this has even exceeded our expectations,” TinCaps team president Mike Nutter said. “I can’t express how proud we are of Mat’s maturation. He is a great example of the baseball talent our fans watch every night at Parkview Field.” 

Read the full release at TinCaps.com.