Matt Klein: Louisville's Postseason X-Factor

Photo Courtesy of Louisville Athletics

Despite a successful season overall, Louisville limped into the Nashville Regional having gone 4-8 over their last twelve games. The Cardinals suffered series losses to Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest before allowing 13 runs in a loss to Pitt at the ACC Tournament in Durham. Not many were giving Louisville a shot against #1 overall seed Vanderbilt and upstart East Tennessee State. The Cardinals didn’t care. They believed in themselves and were boosted by the return of their stalwart catcher and team co-captain, Matt Klein.

After Klein suffered a broken bone in his wrist on March 22nd against Virginia Tech, there was concern that he might be done for the season– and he nearly was. He was able to make a late pinch hitting appearance at the ACC Tournament and made his first full start in over two months against ETSU in the opening game of the Nashville Regional. Since his return, the Cardinals have gone 5-1 to reach Omaha.

When Klein went down, Coach Dan McDonnell met with the junior backstop and told Klein the story of Warren Morris. Morris is an LSU legend who missed 42 games for the Tigers in 1996 with a broken hamate bone. He returned in time for the postseason and ultimately hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to propel LSU to their third National Championship.

“I called Matt back into my office,” McDonnell explained. “I pulled up on my phone the story with Warren Morris and what he went through and having to come back and help his team win a national championship. I said, ‘Matt, it looks like the timeline is that you're going to play in the postseason, but then you have to see it, you have to believe it, and you have to do it every day.”

McDonnell continued to explain what he shared with Klein following the injury, referencing the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody in which lead singer Freddie Mercury’s Zoroastrianism beliefs are portrayed. Simply put, Zoroastrianism is a philosophy that focuses on the power of manifestation and positive thinking.

“I always share a little message when guys get hurt,” McDonnell said. “My wife is a huge music fan. In the movie, he says, ‘Good thoughts, good words, good deeds.’ So anytime one of our guys gets hurt I send them that little clip because the power of the mind can go a long way. Feeling sorry for yourself is not going to get you back.”

Klein focused on getting healthy and helping Louisville’s three young catchers work to fill his position. Second years Tagger Tyson and George Baker were joined by freshman Collin Mowry as the trio combined to fill the void left by their injured team captain. Each showed promise and had some big-time moments as Louisville played through a grueling ACC schedule that saw them play the best teams in the conference week after week. Matt Klein was there through it all, coaching the younger backstops.

“I certainly had to take more of a coaching role, more of a leadership role,” Klein said. “Because the only way I was going to play more is if this team did well enough to keep moving on. Luckily I did well enough in that to keep these guys rolling a little bit to where I could come back and help them out.”

In the 28 games Klein played this season, Louisville is an astounding 22-6. The team was 17-17 over the 34 games he missed. Offensively, he was arguably the Cardinals’ best pure hitter and key cog in the middle of their order. The fact that they were able to maintain a .500 record without him is a testament to Eddie King Jr and the rest of the lineup who stepped up in his absence to keep the season from unraveling.

Klein is hitting .327 with 11 extra base hits and 18 RBI in 28 games this season. He lengthens the lineup and is a critical run producer but numbers suggest that his defensive prowess and steady presence behind the dish is the most critical component to Louisville’s success. In 18 games that he caught, the Cardinals were 16-2 with a staff ERA of 2.41. In the 34 games that he didn’t catch, the staff ERA was 6.58.

While some of that difference can be explained by a season-ending injury to promising sophomore Parker Detmers and a nagging injury to Patrick Forbes, a large part of that difference is due to Klein’s absence.

“A lot of it is just an encouragement piece,” Klein said when I asked him about his importance to the pitchers. “You'll see I talk to them a lot and just getting them back to their normal selves. Keeping them in a routine is a huge part of it. There’s also a simplicity in the way I catch. It's very slow and very rhythmic.”

“It's mainly the leadership of having Matt back there,” said Louisville ace Patrick Forbes. “Everyone's comfortable when they’re throwing to Matt. And his bat in the lineup is huge for us to help win games. Ever since he's been back we've been a different pitching staff, so it's great to have him.”

Forbes echoed that sentiment in the media day press conference, saying “I think it's a big reason why the pitching staff has had a lot of success in the postseason.”

For Klein, he’s just enjoying being back with the team and being able to make an impact. He stressed that he feels good and that his approach is clicking even after missing such a large chunk of the season. His double and two home runs in the Regional showed now signs of rust.

“It's definitely been surreal,” Klein said. “The whole goal was to get back and play with this team one more time. Luckily, I got a chance and I've done well in my opportunities.” 

Louisville is back in the College World Series for the first time since 2019 after missing the postseason in back-to-back seasons. Can Klein channel the heroics of Warren Morris and put himself down in the annals of Louisville baseball lore? Find out when the Cardinals face the Oregon State Beavers on Friday night in Omaha at 7pm ET. Patrick Forbes will start on the mound with Matt Klein expected behind the dish.