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Stanford’s Quinn Mathews has ‘no regrets’ about senior season
Quinn Mathews during a game between University of Utah and Stanford Baseball. (Credit: John Lozano/ISIPhotos)

Stanford’s Quinn Mathews has ‘no regrets’ about senior season

Editor’s note: The St. Louis Cardinals selected Quinn Mathews with the No. 122 pick in the fourth round of the 2023 MLB Draft on July 10.

STANFORD, Calif. (BVM) – Stanford left-handed pitcher Quinn Mathews was drafted in the 19th round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. Mathews had entered the summer expecting to go pro but it didn’t feel right and he decided to not sign with the Rays. Instead, he returned to Stanford for his senior season. It was a tough decision to make for someone who dreamed of that moment for most of his life, but what Mathews did following that decision is what set him up to have the best season of his career this year as a senior. 

He went on vacation. 

“It was definitely an interesting point in my life with baseball and just personally,” Mathews said.

“I actually took a vacation. One of the first with my entire family in what felt like a really long time. We went out to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole and parts of Utah where there’s basically no cell service so I kind of just got away from everything.”

The draft process along with how the season ended for Stanford, losing back-to-back games at the College World Series, had left him in a weird spot. He was frustrated and needed a reset. 

“I was definitely in a weird spot with baseball as a whole,” Mathews said. “I mean obviously just frustrated with how the season ended, frustrated with how I personally pitched…Just frustrated with where I was at so it was kind of a weird spot.”

Stanford Cardinal baseball Quinn Mathews MLB Draft prospect left handed pitcher
Quinn Mathews is considered one of the best pitchers in the country this season. (Credit: John Lozano/ISIPhotos)

Being out in nature, getting away from technology and social media was exactly what he needed. Mathews said that he had had blinders on, almost like a racehorse, and tunnel vision that had kept him only focused on baseball. The vacation lifted the blinders.

Mathews left the summer with a new passion for baseball and a realization that there was more to life than his playing career.  

“Getting away, spending quality time with them and just seeing the outskirts of life,” Mathews said. “Seeing what life has to offer outside of baseball and just being a normal human being again is what it felt like so I was just kind of able to reset and found the joy of life again…There’s a lot more to life than just being a baseball player. I need to be a better human being, better teammate, better brother, better son so it kind of just let me reset.” 

The reset allowed him to find the joy in baseball again. Last year, Mathews was a starter as well as a relief pitcher with a 9-2 record, 3.08 ERA, and 9 saves with 111 strikeouts over 99 1/3 innings. This season, he entered as a senior leader and the go-to guy for the Cardinal. 

However, the Stanford ace also entered the season in the right mindset to make the most of this opportunity. Mathews had already reached his goal; he had been drafted. It wasn’t the right choice at the time and he returned to Stanford on his own terms. He was playing this season with a new outlook on his career.

“I’ve been gifted the opportunity to not only start on Friday nights but I got a senior year that I honestly didn’t expect to have nine, 10 months ago,” Mathews said. “For me it’s like, ‘Hey go out there and enjoy it.’” 

“I was kind of thinking this year like, ‘hey at the end of the day, if the professional opportunity isn’t there, I’m running out of games left as a baseball player.’ Which is a tough pill to swallow for anybody but especially for someone as competitive as me because basically it’s the last competitive games that you’ll play in potentially so you just got to go out there and enjoy it a little bit.”

Mathews started the season a little sluggish, he was overthinking and it created some speed bumps for him. But once the Pac-12 season started, he got into a groove and began to enjoy his senior season.

Conference games have always meant a lot to him. Mathews knows most of the guys on the other teams and they’re even friends outside of baseball. Unfortunately for them, that also means he’ll be bringing his best stuff when it’s a Friday night game against a Pac-12 opponent. 

“I like to beat my friends more than I like to beat random people,” Mathews said. 

He’s been beating them a lot. Stanford sits atop the Pac-12 and is ranked in the top-10 nationally. Mathews is spearheading that with over 100 strikeouts already and a 2.76 ERA. Against UCLA earlier this season, he struck out 10 batters in 7 1/3 innings while the Cardinal got a 6-5 win over the Bruins. He had a career-high, 13 strikeouts against Cal in an 8-7 win for the Cardinal in early April. Recently while facing an Arizona State team that is ranked 20th in the nation, Mathews pitched eight innings with 11 strikeouts as Stanford won 8-6. The lefthander is considered one of the best pitchers in the country and he’s enjoying every second of his senior season. 

“For me it’s like, ‘hey it’s house money, you got nothing to lose, go out there and do what you want to do but try to enjoy it,’” Mathews said. 

Mathews has pitched in the College World Series, Super Regionals, Regionals and Pac-12 title-clinching games. He’s been a starter and reliever. He’s even been drafted by an MLB team. All of it has led to this impressive senior season in which he’s enjoying the game he grew up playing. 

It’s even helped his draft stock, but like Mathews said, he’s accepted that a professional career is not guaranteed. He’s enjoying the baseball that is guaranteed at the moment and that’s with Stanford. 

“I’m blessed that the Rays gave me the opportunity and the offer that they gave me,” Mathews said. “I’m grateful that they were willing to give me it but it just didn’t feel right in the moment and looking back at it now, I have no regrets about it.”