Lending credence to reports that the Mets will be promoting pitching prospect Steven Matz sooner rather than later, about a dozen advance scouts were in attendance last night in Las Vegas to watch the young southpaw pitch. (New York Post)
Earlier this week, Sandy Alderson told reporters that Matz had nothing left to prove in the minors and that if it weren’t for a packed rotation, he probably would be here by now.
It looks like the key comes down to trading one of Dillon Gee or Jon Niese.
Today, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported that at this point the Mets are no longer looking for a prospect for either as much as they just want to move their salary and open up a spot for Matz.
June 12, 8:00 AM
Steven Matz did not fair too well Thursday night, only managing to pitch four innings against the Reno Aces.
All four runs Matz surrendered came in the third inning. A solo home run, a double, a pair of singles and a series of walks is what did him in.
Matz only threw 83 pitches, but his rough third inning was enough to send him to the showers early, despite rebounding in the fourth to strike out the side.
Las Vegas exploded for eleven runs in the game, however, bailing Matz out, and giving him a no decision.
Despite the less than stellar outing which saw Matz pitch his shortest outing in more than two years when he was pitching for the Class-A Savannah Sand Gnats, he is still 6-4 with an impeccable 1.94 ERA and 75 strikeouts which leads the Pacific Coast League.
It’s only a matter of time before Matz is pitching in Flushing.
Even with Niese pitching better Thursday than he has in a month, he is still a mixed bag, and you never really know what’s going to happen when something behind him doesn’t go perfectly. Niese has a habit of not being able to deal with adversity very well, as us Met fans know all too well.
General manager Sandy Alderson was asked pregame Thursday if a veteran could be displaced from the rotation to accommodate Matz’s promotion, as was the case with Noah Syndergaard dislodging Dillon Gee. “We’ll address that when the time comes,” Alderson said diplomatically. (ESPN New York)
I fully expect Niese to be moved very soon to make room for Matz, as even Sandy acknowledged, Steven has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues.
