Stanford pitcher Quinn Mathews threw 156 pitches on Sunday against Texas, a number way too high for many baseball fans. Jun 23, 2021; Omaha, Nebraska, USA; Stanford Cardinal pitcher Quinn Mathews (26) pitches in the first inning against the Vanderbilt Commodores at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
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Quinn Mathews toed the rubber for Stanford against Texas in Game 2 of the Stanford Super Regional on Sunday night. Facing elimination, the Cardinal needed a big performance from Mathews. They got one in the form of a game that baseball hasn’t seen from a starting pitcher in decades.

With his pitch count getting well above 100, it seemed like Mathews might be pulled after seven or eight innings. But, in what was almost certainly his final game at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond, Mathews went back out for the ninth.

Then, with two outs and nobody on in the ninth, Mathews threw his 150th pitch of the night. Longhorns second baseman Jack O’Dowd ripped it down the line for a double. Boos then started to come down at Stanford, leading fans to draw a natural conclusion. Mathews was, at long last, being taken out. Only, the man coming out of the Cardinal dugout was pitching coach Thomas Eager, not head coach, Jack Esquer.

And even though Mathews had now thrown more pitches than any Major Leaguer had thrown in nearly 20 years, he was left in the game.

Fortunately, it didn’t last much longer.

The next hitter was Texas shortstop, Mitchell Daly. And while he did work six pitches out of Mathews, he eventually grounded out to third, ending the game.

While the increased attention on pitch count deserves some scrutiny, 156 pitches far exceeded anything we’ve seen in recent years. Baseball writer Keith Law tweeted that Tim Lincecum, then of the San Francisco Giants, is the only Major League pitcher to go over 135 pitches since 2010. He did that during his first no-hitter in 2013.

Even Lincecum throwing that many pitches earned some criticism. But that situation was far different for three reasons. One, most importantly, Lincecum was a professional. Two, he was throwing a no-hitter. Mathews wasn’t even throwing a shutout. Three, that came in San Francisco’s second to last game before the All-Star break. The Giants were essentially in a position to give Lincecum as much rest as they saw fit.

When was the last time a Major League pitcher threw 156 pitches? Law tweeted that it was knuckleballer Tim Wakefield in 1997. The last non-knuckleballer was Roger Clemens the year before.

Baseball fans were largely frustrated with how Mathews was being used.

It’s also worth noting that while Sunday was like Mathews’ final start at Stanford, he likely has more pitching ahead of him.

First of all, if Stanford wins on Monday, the College World Series awaits. But even if that doesn’t happen, Mathews was selected in the 19th round of the MLB Draft in 2022 but elected to come back for a year.

MLB Pipeline ranked him as the No. 119 prospect for the 2023 MLB Draft.

That likely means that he’ll be selected sometime from the 4th-6th rounds, or at least in that general ballpark.

Hopefully, Sunday’s outing won’t prove harmful going forward.

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