When Steven Matz come off the disabled list, he looked like the ace Mets fans envisioned he could be. Through his first five starts, Matz was 2-1 with a 2.12 ERA and a 1.088 WHIP. In four of his five starts, Matz pitched seven innings. The one time he failed to last seven, he lasted six innings. Overall, he was not only pitching well, but he was giving the Mets length.

Since that point, Matz has struggled mightily. He’s getting fewer strikeouts this year, and correspondingly, his strikeout-to-walk rate is at a career low. There’s also the .444 BABIP entering last night’s game against the Dodgers. There’s the increase in fly ball and line drive rates, which roughly translates to a higher opponent slugging percentage. It could be related to his all but scrapping his slider, reducing the frequency in which he throws and change-ups, and his throwing more curveballs. There are many reasons that could explain his struggles, but whatever the reason is, it hasn’t been fixed.

One emerging pattern is that teams have been jumping all over Matz. From July 3rd to July 26th, Matz made four starts, and he allowed a run in the first inning in all of them. In two of those four starts, he allowed more than one run. He’s averaging 25 pitches in the first inning alone, which has limited his ability to go deeper into games. In fact, during that stretch, Matz only made one start of at least five innings. Overall, no matter what the root cause of Matz’s problems, they’ve manifested themselves in the first inning.

That was an issue Matz seemed to correct in his last start against the Rockies. In the first inning of that game, he got through a scoreless frame facing the minimum. He actually had a no-hitter going for the first four innings, and the first single he allowed in the fifth was an infield single. At that point, he was at 71 pitches, which was already his third highest pitch total over his five start stretch. Arguably, Matz was tiring at that point in the thin Rocky Mountain air when the Rockies jumped all over him in the sixth with three straight hits including a Nolan Arenado homer.

The hope was that start was a stepping stone going forward. Last night’s game gave credence to that theory as, at first glance, Travis d’Arnaud nailed Justin Turner at second on a stolen base attempt. That would have ended the inning with no runs scored.

Instead, upon review, Turner avoided the tag, and the Dodgers onslaught began. Matz would walk Cody Bellinger before allowing three well-struck base hits. If not for Michael Conforto nailing Austin Barnes at the plate for the last out of the inning, it would have been worse than 3-0. Terry Collins was blunt after the game when diagnosing Matz’s issue.

“He’s missing his spots,” Collins said.

Maybe, that’s the reason. It could be Matz is just failing to locate, and that is what is leading to opponents’ teeing off on him. It certainly helps explain why the strikeouts are down. It’s more than plausible this is the root cause of all of Matz’s struggles after what had been a terrific start to the season.

Then again, it might not. Matz has had his share of injuries, and since he was shown a new delivery by Scott Rice, he’s been fighting some mechanical issues this year. Whatever the case may be, the Mets and Matz are going to have to figure things out.