Long Island's Matt Seelinger finally makes MLB debut with Mets
Mets pitcher Matt Seelinger delivers against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning at Citi Field on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
It’s been one long decade for Matt Seelinger.
The odds certainly were stacked against the 31-year-old righthanded reliever from Westbury, having to shed labels of being a 28th-round draft pick in 2017 and a Division III product of Farmingdale State College.
But Seelinger, a Clarke High School alum, now has realized his dream of making the big leagues. And he gets to do it for a hometown team.
The Mets acquired Seelinger from the Tigers on Sunday and activated him before Tuesday night’s home game against the Royals.
“When you do anything for 10 years and you don’t get what you want in any job, it’s tough to keep going,” he told Newsday in a phone interview Tuesday. “But I knew I always, one, loved it, and two, I knew that I could do it. It was just a matter of timing and opportunity, because I proved it over 10 years of my career. I’ve been traded four times for major-leaguers straight up and all this stuff, that I knew what was in there, and just had to wait my time. I just always loved it, and it’s the only thing I knew.
“I had the confidence and belief that it would happen. It’s just you never know when it’s going to happen. Obviously when you get to year 7, 8, 9, 10 — you’re like, holy crap, is it going to happen? But I just always had it in me to have the confidence and belief and just [keep my] head down and keep working and working and working and waiting and waiting, and it’s now finally happened.”
Though the trade was not officially announced until Monday, Seelinger found out Sunday as he was on the field warming up for a 4:45 p.m. game with the Toledo Mud Hens, the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate. As someone who has been traded multiple times, Seelinger knew the nature of the business. He called his wife immediately and said: “I’m going home.”
Seelinger had a 10 a.m. flight to LaGuardia on Monday, and nothing about the trade was publicly announced at that point. The news was released at 11 a.m. during his flight, and he landed around noon to non-stop buzzing on his phone.
“I think it’s really cool,” interim manager Andy Green said. “You probably can’t script stories better than playing in the ballpark that was 15 minutes away from where you grew up and having grinded for nine or 10 years in the minor leagues. I think you’re always excited about those stories.
Seelinger’s debut was anything but smooth. He allowed seven runs in the seventh inning of the Mets’ 16-12 loss, but with a depleted bullpen remained in the game to throw a scoreless eighth.
“It obviously wasn’t the best way I wanted to start my major-league career, but I was very proud to re-collect myself in the dugout, kind of get my bearings set, get out there and compete and put up a zero in that second inning. Help the team out.”
“I think that’s part of being a big-leaguer, is finishing your job. Doing what you need to do to get out of it and help the team.
“I was really excited. I wasn’t nervous," he said of first getting to the mound. "They say you can’t feel your legs, but I felt my legs. I’ve just been so ready for this moment that mentally I felt good, felt clear, felt calm. It’s baseball. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way and that’s kind of what happened. That’s why I wanted to get back out there for the second inning. Really try to compete and do what I could do at the big-league level. I felt like I was able to show that in that second inning there.”
Seelinger grew up a Yankees fan, but Citi Field is only 15 minutes from his childhood home in Westbury. He’s been to Citi Field and was looking forward to recalling memories he had in different seats around the ballpark.
“I think all of Long Island will be there,” Seelinger said before Tuesday’s game. “I think every person in Westbury will be at this game. I’m going to have hundreds of people. My wife will be there, which is most important, and my parents, my dad and my best friends. So it’s going to be unbelievable.”
After the game, Seelinger stayed on the field talking with his parents.
Seelinger, who initially was assigned to Triple-A Syracuse on Monday, had an “upward mobility clause” in his contract, according to The Detroit News, that required the Mets to put him on their MLB roster within 72 hours or make him available to another team.
In 27 games with Toledo this year, Seelinger had a 3.89 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 39 1⁄3 innings. He’s pitched in 284 minor-league games in nine seasons, posting a 3.33 ERA. That doesn’t include a 21-game stint with the Ducks in 2024, when he shined with a 0.44 ERA. He credited manager Lew Ford and pitching coach Bobby Blevins, as well as the entire organization, for welcoming him “with open arms” and giving him “all the opportunity in the world to pitch and show what I can do.”
“You have those labels, and it’s fun to embrace them,” Seelinger said. “Because at the end of the day, whether you were Division I, the high school pick, first-round pick, third-round pick — well, if I’m in Double-A with you, we’re at the same level. So that’s how I always viewed it. And it’s kind of funny, the joke’s on them. You can make the label all you want, but I’m right here with you. So yeah, you have those labels, but you kind of just embrace them and believe in yourself and you keep going.”
Newsday’s Brian Heyman and David Lennon contributed to this story.
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
