The death of former Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs pitcher Brian Matusz on Tuesday at age 37 stunned many in and around Major League Baseball.
Now, his cause of death has been revealed in multiple reports Monday. The pitcher likely died from a drug overdose, according to Phoenix police, whose report indicated his mother found him Jan. 6 with drug paraphernalia on the floor next to his body and a white substance in his mouth.
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According to the Baltimore Banner, which cited the Phoenix police report, Elizabeth Matusz entered her son’s house through a bathroom window and found him on his back on the couch in the upstairs loft, cold to the touch.
“A lighter, straw and a small square of aluminum foil, paraphernalia sometimes used to inhale drugs such as fentanyl, heroin and crack cocaine, were found on the floor near Matusz’s right hand,” the Banner reported.
There were no apparent injuries, trauma or signs of foul play, according to the reports.
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Matusz went 27-41 with a 4.92 earned-run average in parts of eight seasons (2009-16). He finished fifth in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2010, when he went 10-12 with a 4.30 ERA in 32 starts.
A 6-foot-5 left-hander, Matusz spent only a year in the minor leagues after the conclusion of his college career at the Unversity of San Diego. He got his first cup of coffee in the majors in 2009 and went 5-2 in eight starts for Baltimore.
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Matusz’s final major league game was a July 2016 spot start for the Cubs at Wrigley Field that lasted only three innings. Although that was his only big league appearance for the eventual World Series champions, he received a ring when the Cubs beat Cleveland to win their first title since 1908 that fall.
Our hearts are heavy tonight as we mourn the passing of former Oriole, Brian Matusz.
A staple in our clubhouse from 2009-2016, Brian was beloved throughout Birdland, and his passion for baseball and our community was unmatched. He dedicated his time to connecting with any fan he… pic.twitter.com/wNN3WkO8l4
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) January 8, 2025
Matusz signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks with an invitation to spring training in Feb. 2017. He got into eight Cactus League games with Arizona, then was released after posting a 6.11 ERA in 11 games with the D-backs’ Triple-A affiliate.
Matusz took a year off from baseball in 2018 and resurfaced in 2019, pitching professionally for the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League and the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, before calling it a career.
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A native of Phoenix, Matusz was 14 years old when he attended Game 1 of the 2001 World Series, in which the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the heavily favored New York Yankees in seven games. Eight years later, he described the moment of his big league debut as a childhood dream realized.
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