There’s a common misconception that Spring Training games aren’t important. Well, to pitchers like Steven Matz who are trying to prove themselves after back-to-back rough seasons, they matter.

The Long Island native has kicked off the preseason with consecutive rough outings, the latter of which came Sunday when he surrendered five runs on five hits without escaping the first inning.

While neither Matt Harvey nor Zack Wheeler have been untouchable in their limited outings thus far, they have certainly made better cases for their jobs than Matz, who has now walked four batters and allowed an astounding 10 runs in 1.2 innings.

“You want to see results,” Matz said. “Even though it’s Spring Training, you want to see results. You don’t want hitters to get hits off you. I don’t care if it’s live BP or in a game or in the regular season. It’s definitely frustrating.”

Matz is coming off ulnar nerve transposition surgery, a similar procedure to the one Jacob deGrom underwent in 2016, and says he feels strong and healthy, which is what makes this even more frustrating for him.

New Mets manager Mickey Callaway chalks it up to a lack of conviction behind his pitches.

“I think the way he’s throwing the ball right now, he has a little doubt when he’s letting it go on where it’s gonna go [and] if they’re gonna hit it,” Callaway said. “That’s really all I see.”

The 26-year-old admits that he has left the ball up and has had trouble putting guys away.

“I got two strikes on a bunch of guys but they were able to just put their barrels to it to put them in the hole,” Matz said. “The ball was just up, really. I was missing my spot by a couple inches and this is a game of inches. They were able to put balls in play and get base hits.”

He also realizes that he needs to limit his walks, a recurring issue for him this Spring.

“With runners on, you can’t walk guys,” he said. “So I’m just going to keep getting better at this stuff and work as hard as I can to see if I get some improvements here.”

Regardless of the early results or lack thereof , Callaway doesn’t seem phased just yet.

“He’s been working so hard and I know it’s frustrating for him, but we’re not worried,” Callaway said. “We just want him to continue to work. He’s got good stuff, he knows how to pitch and he’ll get to where he needs to be at some point.

“It’s key for him to have some success in Spring Training going into the season. We’re not worried at this time. He’ll get through it.”

Matz will have every opportunity to make the team as a member of the rotation out of Spring Training, but the results need to be there and soon. He has had a history of injury and lack of prolonged success which makes these rough first outings that much more concerning.

With just over three weeks to go until the beginning of the season, every outing will be crucial, and if he can’t kick it with the best of them, then he may be doomed to the bullpen, or even worse, Triple-A to start the year.