Scott Mathieson

Now that I'm done with the Card Shop posts it's time to get back to the retirement posts...

Yomiuri Giants pitcher Scott Mathieson announced his retirement at the conclusion of this year's Nippon Series.  Mathieson was originally drafted by the Phillies in the 17th round of the June 2002 MLB draft.  He spent the next 10 seasons in the Phillies organization, eventually appearing in 15 games at the major league level over three seasons (2006, 2010 and 2011).  He had Tommy John surgery in late 2006 and missed most of the next two seasons due to recovery.  The Phillies released him after the 2011 season so he could pursue opportunities in Asia and he signed with the Giants in December of that year.

The Giants moved Mathieson into middle relief and he had two very good years in that role in 2012 & 13, posting ERAs of 1.71 and 1.03 respectively despite missing some time due to an elbow injury in 2012.  He led the Central League in holds in 2013 with 40.  He was the Giants closer in 2014, notching 30 saves although his ERA was 3.58, his highest total of any season in Japan in which he appeared in more than 30 games.  He was back in middle relief the following season and his ERA dropped by almost a run.  He again led the Central League in holds in 2016 with 41 this time and was named "Giants Pitching Captain" before the 2018 season.  He suffered a knee injury in late August of that year and missed the rest of the season.  He opened the 2019 season on the farm team and didn't join the ichi-gun team until June.  He made the only start of his NPB career in Shinnosuke Abe's retirement game which was the Giants' final regular season game of the year.

In addition to leading the CL in holds in 2013 and 2017, he also led the league in "hold points" each season.  "Hold points" are compute by adding a player's holds and wins in relief.  He posted 42 hold points in 2013 and 49 in 2016.  He was named to the All Star team in 2016 and pitched in three Nippon Series - winning in 2012 over the Fighters and losing in 2013 to the Eagles and 2019 to the Hawks.  Mathieson has played for the Canadian National Team in the 2006, 2013 and 2017 World Baseball Classics and the 2019 Premier 12.

Despite announcing his retirement, Mathieson isn't quite done pitching.  He's hoping to pitch for Team Canada in next summer's Tokyo Olympics and will be helping them attempt to qualify in the America's Qualifier in Arizona in March and (if necessary) the "last chance qualifier" in Taiwan in April.

Here's a card of Mathieson from each season he spent in Japan:

2012 BBM Nippon Series #S04

2013 BBM 1st Version #004

2014 BBM Giants #G095

2015 BBM Memories Of Uniform #008

2016 BBM 2nd Version #501

2017 Calbee "Title Holder" #T-18

2018 Konami Baseball Collection #201810-R-G020-00

2019 Epoch NPB #294