BREAKING: Red Sox Top Prospect makes shocking decision on his future as he is set…

Former Red Sox top prospect takes big step as roster decision on his future looms.

The Red Sox are — once again — on the clock when it comes to making a decision on the future of former top pitching prospect Bryan Mata.

Mata, whose season has been interrupted by a series of injuries, is once again on a rehab assignment and will join Triple-A Worcester for the final step before the Sox have to make a decision on him, a source confirmed Sunday. Mata, who has been rehabbing at Double-A Portland, will join the WooSox for their road trip to Scranton, Pa. this week and is likely to pitch again Wednesday, remaining on a five-day rotation.

Mata is out of minor league options, so he can’t be sent to Triple-A freely once healthy and would instead need to be exposed to waivers. A source recently told MassLive’s Sean McAdam that the Red Sox believe Mata, if healthy, would almost certainly be claimed by another team due to his tantalizing pitch mix. Because of those circumstances, the club must decide whether to add him to the active roster or expose him to waivers (likely by designating him for assignment) when his 30-day rehab window expires. His rehab stint began June 16, so it expires July 15, during the All-Star break. The Red Sox will have to make a decision on him by July 16.

Mata faced a similar scenario before Opening Day but got injured during spring training (left hamstring strain) and wasn’t ready to begin a rehab assignment until May 13, when he made his season debut in the Florida Complex League. He reached Portland on May 23 but was again shut down due to injury and pulled off his rehab assignment due to a lat issue. After rehabbing, he began another rehab stint June 16 by throwing two innings for Portland. So far in this stint, he has tossed five scoreless frames while allowing four hits and striking out four batters. How Mata pitches in the next couple weeks will play a role in what the Sox decide to do with him.

“We’ve got to make a decision at one point,” said manager Alex Cora last month. “He’s very talented. He is talented. We’ve been talking about him for a while. It just hasn’t happened. Inconsistency, and being hurt. Hopefully, he stays healthy and then we have to make a decision.”

Mata, who signed out of Venezuela in Jan. 2016, got on scouts’ radars with strong seasons in 2016 and 2017 and was selected to the All-Star Futures Game in July 2018, while at High-A Salem. Armed with a high-velocity fastball, two breaking balls and a changeup, he climbed up prospect charts and was ranked by Baseball Americas as one of the top six prospects in the system in 2018, 2019 and 2020, peaking at No. 4. After the 2020 minor league season was canceled, Mata missed all of 2021 and half of 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Last year, a right teres major strain limited him to 27 innings at Triple-A. The repeated injuries — and some questions about Mata’s between-start routines — completely sidetracked his path to the majors despite the fact he was added to the 40-man roster in Nov. 2020.

Mata used options in 2021, 2022 and 2023 despite never reaching the majors so he can’t be sent down to the minors again without clearing waivers. The spring training injury allowed the Red Sox to kick the decision down the road; if Mata was healthy at the end of camp, they would have had to make the call then. They were able to further delay it when he got hurt again in May. Barring another injury, the final call will be due in mid-July.