Once upon a time Bryan Mata was the top pitching prospect in the Red Sox organization. Boasting a 100 mph fastball and filthy breaking stuff, Mata was viewed as possibly the club’s ace of the future.

Now, the Red Sox must decide if he has any future with the club at all.

Thanks to a series of injuries and other setbacks Mata’s career hasn’t taken off as hoped, but because the 25-year-old is out of minor league options he must be added to the big league roster or made available to other clubs. The Red Sox have been able to push off any kind of decision until now because the right-hander has so far spent the entire season on the injured list with a hamstring injury, but with his 30-day rehab assignment set to expire on Monday, the club will soon have to make a call.

Oft injured Red Sox right-hander experiences another setback

In the meantime, the Red Sox appear to be gathering as much information as possible.

Mata joined the big league club in Boston on Friday, and manager Alex Cora said he was scheduled to throw a bullpen in front of the coaching staff. He will then make his final rehab start on Sunday in Worcester, where he’s expected to throw two to three innings as he has throughout his current rehab assignment.

If the Red Sox opt to call up Mata, it would mark the culmination of a long and difficult journey to the majors.

Signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela in early 2016, Mata initially enjoyed a meteoric rise through the Red Sox system. He reached High-A at age 19 in 2018 and Double-A at age 20 the following year, but his progress was halted when the 2020 minor league season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in spring training of 2021 he suffered a partial tear of his UCL, necessitating season-ending Tommy John surgery.

Mata didn’t return to the mound until June of 2022 and wound up also missing most of the 2023 season with a right teres major strain. By the time he returned in September the club moved him from the starting rotation to the bullpen, and this year the expectation was that he would pitch in relief for Boston if he made the team.

His latest hamstring injury in spring training put that discussion on hold, but now Mata’s fate is something the Red Sox can’t ignore any longer.