But beyond the numbers, Tyler Matzek didn’t look anything like the Tyler Matzek of old. The velocity was down dramatically, over a full two miles per hour from its peak in 2021, when his average heater sat at 96 miles per hour. Eventually, the Braves would go on to place Matzek on the IL with elbow inflammation at the beginning of May, which almost seemed more like a courtesy, but it does appear there were some serious concerns about whether he had damaged the UCL again.

Soon after being placed on the IL, Matzek had an MRI on the elbow. Thankfully, the results showed the UCL perfectly intact; however, they did find a problem with his flexor tendon.

“So it wasn’t even on the (ulnar collateral ligament), it was on the flexor,” Maztek said, via Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “So they were thinking (it was) a flexor strain, flexor tear, flexor something – something was going on with the flexor. That was the big concern. It wasn’t the UCL. The UCL graft looks fantastic. It wasn’t just general inflammation either. It was a specific spot on the flexor.”