Mets DFA Pitcher After Nightmare Debut
- Dominic Konareski
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
The Detroit Tigers sent Matt Seelinger to the New York Mets for cash considerations on Monday, July 6th, which would ultimately be a career-defining move for the 31-year-old. Just a day later Seelinger would make his long-awaited MLB debut, but it was far from storybook.
The New York native was a 2017 draftee by Pittsburgh in the 28th round out of Farmingdale State, and would be a career minor leaguer since. Seelinger did pitch briefly in independent baseball before signing with Detroit in 2024. Overall, before his Mets tenure he played minor league baseball for the Pirates, Rays, Giants and Phillies before ending up with the Tigers.
In 2026 with the Mud Hens, the Triple-AAA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, Seelinger was 2-1 with a 3.89 ERA in 39.1 innings and carried a 49:19 K:BB ratio.
Making his MLB debut was a long-awaited moment for Seelinger. He racked up 389.2 innings in the minors across 284 games that only featured just 3 starts. “I couldn’t be more thankful for the Mets to give me this opportunity,” said Seelinger in a pregame conference on Tuesday.
While it was a dream come true to make his debut for the New York Mets in his home state of New York, Seelinger grew up rooting for a different team.
“Well, I hate to say it, but I was a Yankee fan growing up,” said Seelinger who did also state for the record that he did have the shared heartbreak of the ‘06 Mets and the 2015 Mets as well.
When gametime came, the righty was thrown into action for the start of the seventh inning in what was a tied game at 9-9 against the Royals. Seelinger would allow 7 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks in just 2 innings worth of work, making a tied game blown wide open and blowing up what was a short lived feel-good story. He did end the inning with his first two career strikeouts in what was a bittersweet moment.
New York sent Seelinger out for the eighth inning which did prove to be the right choice, with the 31-year-old putting up a donut off the scoreboard and getting that ERA down a bit more.
“I was very proud to recollect myself in the dugout and get my bearings and get out there and compete, put up a zero in that inning and help the team out,” said Seelinger after what would be a 16-12 Mets loss credited to him.
New York would DFA Seelinger almost immediately after to open a roster spot for Xzavion Curry, who was recalled from Triple-AAA Syracuse.
Following the DFA, it is now unclear if Matt Seelinger will ever get to have a second game in the Major Leagues. His MLB ERA sits at 31.50 after the debut.