Steven Matz‘s left shoulder impingement will keep him on the DL for the time being, meaning his start scheduled for Thursday is a no-go, he told reporters this afternoon.
Matz said he felt discomfort in his throwing session yesterday and told the coaching staff. He says doctors have found no structural damage within the shoulder, just irritation.
“Just a little irritation, it’s still bugging me a little bit,” Matz said. “I don’t quite feel like I can let it go yet. …I felt like I was making progress, and then I threw off the mound a little bit, and I felt OK coming out of the there. And then the next day, which was yesterday, I tried to throw and it was kind of barking at me a little bit again.”
Matz has a 3.40 ERA in 132.1 inning with the Mets so far this season. He has struck out 129 opposing batters (8.8 K/9) and walked 31 (2.1 BB/9). He has struggled through numerous health issues the past few months, including a bone spur in his throwing elbow that will require offseason surgery to remove. He has a 4.21 ERA since May.
“The reports are there’s no real structural damage, so we’re not worried about rotator-cuff stuff and we’re not worried about torn labrums,” Terry Collins said.
“We’re worried about a stiffness in his shoulder that’s keeping him from being confident that he can pitch. So until that stiffness goes away — and yesterday he felt fine but all of a sudden threw one pitch and he felt a sensation in his shoulder that irritated it — he’s too valuable down the road to just continue to push it and say ‘you’re going out there anyway.’”
Jacob deGrom‘s start will be moved up a day to compensate for Matz’s scratch and pitch Thursday rather than Friday. Robert Gsellman will remain in the rotation to face Washington on Friday.
