Josué Matos (born March 15, 1978) is a Puerto Rican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

player. Matos has spent over a decade in pro baseball and has pitched at times for the

Puerto Rico national baseball team The Puerto Rico national baseball team ( es, Selección de béisbol de Puerto Rico) is the national baseball team of Puerto Rico. The men's senior team is currently ranked 13th in the world. Puerto Rico is the incumbent Pan American and Central ...

. He is currently the pitching coach for the

Brooklyn Cyclones The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island Bo ...

Career

Playing career

Matos was picked in the 27th round of the 1996 amateur draft by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

as a draft-and-follow selection. The

right-hander In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

spent a season at junior college then made his pro debut in 1997 with the

AZL Mariners The Arizona Complex League Mariners are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. The team is co ...

(1-0, Sv, 4.17, 50 K, 6 BB in 45 IP) and

Everett AquaSox The Everett AquaSox are a Minor League Baseball team in Everett, Washington. The team is a member of the Northwest League and is affiliated with the Seattle Mariners. The AquaSox play their home games at Funko Field, which has a seating capacity ...

(2.08 in 2 G). The right-hander returned to the AZL Mariners for '98 and went 3-0 with a 2.20 ERA in 17 games, fanning 51 batters in 41 innings while giving up just 29 hits. In 1999, the Mayagüez native became a starter and was 9-9 with a 4.63 ERA for the

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, a town on the outskirts of Appleton in the Fox Cities, and are na ...

; he struck out over 3 times as many as he walked and averaged nearly a K per inning. In the winter of 1999–2000, Josue had a 3-3, 2.79 record for the San Juan Senators of the Puerto Rican League. Returning to the US, he split time between the

Lancaster JetHawks The Lancaster JetHawks were a baseball team located in Lancaster, California. They were named for the city's association with the aerospace industry and played their home games at The Hangar. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League ...

(3-3, 2.64, 93 K in 88 IP) and

New Haven Ravens New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

(4-5, 3.63). Matos' rise was slowed in 2001 as he missed a full season due to injury. He returned in 2002 to pitch for the

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in San Antonio, Texas, and are named for the Spanish missions around which the city was founded ...

(1-0, 4.91 in 3 G) and

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, which opened in 1960 ...

(4-7, 5.92, .300 average allowed), struggling in his

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and ...

debut. In '03, Josue returned to the bullpen, where he excelled for San Antonio, going 7-2 with 4 saves and a 2.24 ERA in 48 outings. He held opponents to a .187 average and fanned 104 in 88 IP. In 2004, Matos moved to the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

organization and pitched for the

Syracuse SkyChiefs The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which opened in 1997 and has ...

. There, he was 7-6 with a 5.04 ERA in a starting role primarily. He led Jays farmhands in walks (56). In the winter of 2004–2005, Josue went 5-2 with a 2.63 ERA for the Gigantes de Carolina; he tied

Evan Thomas Evan Welling Thomas III (born April 25, 1951) is an American journalist, historian, and author. He is the author of nine books, including two ''New York Times'' bestsellers. Early life and career Thomas was born in Huntington, New York, and r ...

and

Jonathan Albaladejo Jonathan Albaladejo Santana ( ; born October 30, 1982) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Washington Nationals, New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks in Major League Baseball (MLB), as well as the Yomi ...

for the Puerto Rican League lead in victories. He split his time in the Jays system between Syracuse (5-3, 6.63, .313 opponent average) and the

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays major league club. During the team's first seas ...

(0-1, 1.45 in 9 G, .206 opponent average). He also moved to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

organization during the year, going 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA in 7 games for the

Reading Phillies Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling) ...

. Matos pitched for Puerto Rico in the

2005 Baseball World Cup The 2005 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 36th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

but went 0-3 with a 4.76 ERA, losing to

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

, Japan and Australia. The rest of Puerto Rico's staff was 6-2. He did better in the 2005–2006 Puerto Rican League, going 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA for Carolina and finishing second in ERA behind

Kyle Middleton Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Places Canada * Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada Ireland * Kyle, County Laois * Kyle, County Wexford Scotland * Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrsh ...

. Matos was selected to pitch for Puerto Rico in the

2006 World Baseball Classic The 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was the inaugural tournament between national baseball teams that included players from Major League Baseball. It was held from March 3 to 20 in stadiums that are in and around Tokyo, Japan; San Juan, Puer ...

and pitched one game, in Puerto Rico's 12-2 upset of the

Cuban national baseball team The Cuba national baseball team ( Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Cuba'') represents Cuba at regional and international levels. The team is made up from the most professional players from the Cuban national baseball system. Cuba has been de ...

. Josue relieved Dicky Gonzalez to begin the bottom of the 5th. He walked

Yoandy Garlobo Yoandy Garlobo Romay (born January 12, 1977 in Jovellanos, Matanzas Province, Cuba) is a baseball player who starred for Cuba at the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Garlobo was the designated hitter for Cuba at the tournament, where he had a .480 b ...

and allowed a single to

Carlos Tabares Carlos Alberto Tabares Padilla (born July 8, 1974, in Habana Vieja) is a center fielder for Industriales of the Cuban National Series. He has also been a frequent member of the Cuban national baseball team, including appearances at the 2006 Wo ...

. He then retired

Eduardo Paret Eduardo Paret Pérez (born October 23, 1972 in Santa Clara) is a Cuban baseball player. He is a shortstop for Villa Clara of the Cuban National Series, and for the Cuban national baseball team. Paret was the starting shortstop on the Cuban te ...

on a grounder, got Michel Enríquez to pop up then got

Yulieski Gourriel Yulieski Gourriel Castillo (born June 9, 1984), commonly known as Yuli Gurriel and nicknamed "La Piña", is a Cuban professional baseball first baseman who is a free agent. He previously played for Sancti Spiritus in the Cuban National ...

to fly out. Willie Collazo relieved him in the 6th. In the regular season, he was with the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American minor league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. ...

(0-1, 2.31 in 2 G) and Monclova Steelers (4.15 in 1 G). He spent 2007 with the

North Shore Spirit The North Shore Spirit was a minor-league baseball team based in Lynn, Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. The Spirit played in the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball (the "Can-Am League," also known as the Northeast League), an I ...

(0-2, 5.74) and

Alexandria Aces The Alexandria Aces were a baseball team based in Alexandria, Louisiana. The last version of the Aces played in the United League Baseball in 2013. The Aces have played their home games at historic Bringhurst Field, which was built in 1933 for the ...

(0-1, 7.56), again failing to hold down a regular spot anywhere. The veteran hurler pitched for Puerto Rico in the 2008 Americas Baseball Cup, which his country won. He outdueled Francisco Campos of Mexico 2-1 in the opener but lasted just one inning against Panama. He went 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in the event. In the 2008–2009 Puerto Rican League, Matos had a 5-2, 2.89 record for Carolina. He then won his only appearance in the 2009 Caribbean Series, tossing 5 shutout innings of 2-hit ball but walking six

Licey Tigers Tigres del Licey (English: Licey Tigers) is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM). The team was founded in 1907 and based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It is one of two LIDOM franchises based in ...

. He is on Puerto Rico's provisional roster for the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Coaching career

Matos was named as the pitching coach for the

Kingsport Mets The Kingsport Mets were a Minor League Baseball team of the Appalachian League from 1921 to 2020. They were located in Kingsport, Tennessee, and were last named for the team's major league affiliate, the New York Mets. The team played its home g ...

of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

organization for the 2018 season.

Sources

* 1998–2009

Baseball Almanac Baseball Almanac is an interactive baseball encyclopedia with over 500,000 pages of baseball facts, research, awards, records, feats, lists, notable quotations, baseball movie ratings, and statistics. Its goal is to preserve the history of baseba ...

s
SABR database

* ttp://www.ibaf.org IBAF {{DEFAULTSORT:Matos, Josue 1978 births Living people Acereros de Monclova players Alexandria Aces players Arizona League Mariners players Everett AquaSox players Lancaster JetHawks players Long Island Ducks players Mexican League baseball pitchers Minor league baseball coaches New Hampshire Fisher Cats players New Haven Ravens players Newark Bears players North Shore Spirit players People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Mexico Reading Phillies players San Antonio Missions players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Tacoma Rainiers players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2009 World Baseball Classic players