Brian Matusz was pleased with his performance against the Mets today. His teammates seem to be having fun, too, if the 10-0 score after six innings is any indication.
"I got my work in,'' he said. "Fifty to 60 pitches was what we were looking at, and I think I was at 55. It was nice to work with Matt [Wieters] to get on the same page. I didn't shake Matt one time. When I faced Luis Castillo the second time, we went four fastballs down and away, and he ended up coming back to me. I was unsure why we were going four pitches down and away in a row and then I talked to Matt afterwards.
"I didn't shake, I didn't doubt it. I just continued to do it. After I talked to Matt, it was the right thing to do. Just to trust Matt was good for me. It took me a little while to get in a groove today. I was getting behind guys. It wasn't like me. I just had to get in my groove and finally in the third and fourth innings, I was able to do that. I got in the groove and got things going. I threw some curveballs over for first-pitch strikes. I threw some good changeups and I was able to move the fastball in and out. It was a good start to get going for the season.
Matusz said he was pleased with the way things went for him this spring.
"It was good,'' he said. "Not even looking at numbers, but just how I progressed and I was able to get all four pitches going. It was great for me in keeping the walks down. It was huge. I only walked three guys the entire spring. That's what I wanted. I wanted to come out and throw strikes, get ahead of guys and get my work in. I feel like I progressed well and I'm ready to get started for the year."
Now, it's time to take it out to the mound in a real game on Thursday night.
"I can't wait,'' he said. "I'm excited for Tuesday to see what this team can do, to get things going, to get the group together. I feel like everybody has progressed really well this spring and we're ready to go and start winning some games."