What years did Rick Matula play?

Rick Matula played in Major League Baseball from 1979 to 1981.

Was Rick Matula a pitcher?

Yes. Rick Matula pitched in the major leagues, recording 19 wins and 129 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Rick Matula hit?

Rick Matula hit 0 career home runs with 11 hits.

What was Rick Matula's career batting average?

Rick Matula batted .099 over his career, with 11 hits in 111 at bats.

What was Rick Matula's career ERA?

Rick Matula finished with a 4.41 career ERA, going 19-23 with 129 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Rick Matula have?

Rick Matula recorded 129 career strikeouts.

Rick Matula

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1979-1981)

Rick Matula was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1979 to 1981 for the Atlanta Braves, a span of 3 seasons. Across 66 career appearances, he went 19-23 with a 4.41 ERA and 129 strikeouts.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 12, 2026

W–L 19–23

ERA 4.41

WHIP 1.47

SO 129

Pitcher PIV -2899.1

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 190 lb
Born: 11/22/1953 in Wharton, TX, USA
MLB Debut: 1979-04-08
Last Game: 1981-06-11

Full name: Richard Carlton Matula

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

Rick Matula — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
19	23	66	58	4	1	0	355.0	396	174	32	126	129	4.41	-2899.1

Career ERA 4.41 vs. league average 3.84 across their career seasons — 15.0% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rick Matula — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1979	ATL	NL	8	10	28	28	1	0	171.1	193	79	64	67	4.15	4.00 (-4%)	-785.8
1980	ATL	NL	11	13	33	30	3	1	176.2	195	90	60	62	4.58	3.84 (-19%)	-2113.3
1981	ATL	NL	0	0	5	0	0	0	7.0	8	5	2	0	6.43	—	0.0
Career · 3 seasons			19	23	66	58	4	1	355.0	396	174	126	129	4.41	—	-2,899

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Rick Matula — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
66	111	1	11	0	0	0	0	0	3	48	.099	.123	.099	.222	-1,195

Career AVG .099 vs. league average .263 across their career seasons — 62.3% below league average.

Career OBP .123 vs. league average .326 across their career seasons — 62.3% below league average.

Career SLG .099 vs. league average .387 across their career seasons — 74.4% below league average.

Career OPS .222 vs. league average .713 across their career seasons — 68.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rick Matula — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1979	ATL	NL	28	53	1	5	1	23	.094	.265 (-64%)	.329 (-66%)	.397 (-76%)	.727 (-72%)	-605.0
1980	ATL	NL	33	57	0	6	2	25	.105	.264 (-60%)	.326 (-58%)	.387 (-73%)	.714 (-66%)	-590.3
1981	ATL	NL	5	1	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 3 seasons			66	111	1	11	3	48	.099	—	—	—	—	-1,195

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (132 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Rick Matula — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	29	53	0	4	0	0	.075
Away	37	58	1	7	0	0	.121

Pitching — Home / Away

Rick Matula — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	29	167.1	192	84	58	59	4.52
Away	37	187.2	204	90	68	70	4.32

Last 10 Games — Batting

Rick Matula — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	SO
1981-06-11	ATL	WSN	L	0	0
1981-06-10	ATL	WSN	L	0	0
1981-06-09	ATL	WSN	L	1	0
1981-06-06	ATL	PHI	L	0	0
1981-05-30	ATL	SDP	L	0	0
1980-10-04	ATL	CIN	L	0	0
1980-10-02	ATL	HOU	L	0	0
1980-09-23	ATL	LAD	L	0	0
1980-09-18	ATL	SFG	W	3	2
1980-09-13	ATL	SDP	W	3	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Rick Matula — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1981-06-11	ATL	WSN	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1981-06-10	ATL	WSN	—	0.2	2	2	2	0	0	1
1981-06-09	ATL	WSN	—	1.1	2	1	1	1	0	0
1981-06-06	ATL	PHI	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
1981-05-30	ATL	SDP	—	3.0	3	2	2	1	0	0
1980-10-04	ATL	CIN	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1980-10-02	ATL	HOU	—	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0
1980-09-23	ATL	LAD	L	4.0	8	3	3	0	0	0
1980-09-18	ATL	SFG	W	7.0	6	1	1	4	2	0
1980-09-13	ATL	SDP	W	6.1	4	3	3	2	1	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Rick Matula — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	66	58	36	52	1	11

Season-by-Season Fielding

Rick Matula — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1979	ATL	P	28	28	15	23	0	6
1980	ATL	P	33	30	20	28	1	5
1981	ATL	P	5	0	1	1	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Rick Matula — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	66

College History

Rick Matula — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Sam Houston State University	Huntsville	TX	1973, 1974, 1975

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Rick Matula (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Rick Matula: the record in brief

Between the debut on April 8, 1979 and the final game on June 11, 1981, Rick Matula built the record summarized on this page. Matula spent the whole of the career shown here with one club, the Atlanta Braves. Listed as a pitcher, Matula both batted and threw right-handed. Matula is listed at 6'0" and 190 pounds. Matula was born on November 22, 1953, in Wharton, TX, USA. Matula's full given name, per the bio, is Richard Carlton Matula.

Across 66 games (58 starts), Matula recorded 19 wins against 23 losses with a 4.41 ERA. Matula had 129 strikeouts. Against a 3.84 league ERA for the same seasons, the 4.41 mark was 15.0% worse. Matula won 11 games in 1980, the most of any season listed. The strikeout high was 67 in 1979. In 1979, one of the busiest seasons, Matula posted a 4.15 ERA; the league figure that year was 4.00.

Matula appears at one position only: pitcher, in 66 games. On the mound, the fielding record shows 1 errors alongside 36 putouts and 52 assists.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rick Matula

What years did Rick Matula play?: Rick Matula played in Major League Baseball from 1979 to 1981.
Was Rick Matula a pitcher?: Yes. Rick Matula pitched in the major leagues, recording 19 wins and 129 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Rick Matula hit?: Rick Matula hit 0 career home runs with 11 hits.
What was Rick Matula's career batting average?: Rick Matula batted .099 over his career, with 11 hits in 111 at bats.
What was Rick Matula's career ERA?: Rick Matula finished with a 4.41 career ERA, going 19-23 with 129 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Rick Matula have?: Rick Matula recorded 129 career strikeouts.