Photo by Ed Delany/MMO
The New York Post’s Dan Martin checked in with Mets starter Steven Matz on Friday. The southpaw is busy trying to stay in shape at his home in Nashville, Tennessee but can’t help worrying about his family in Long Island.
“We’ve got stores and places shut down here, but I’m really monitoring what’s going on in New York with all my family there,’’ Matz said.
Matz, who turns 29 in May, is joined by fellow teammate Brad Brach during his regular twice weekly workouts and says he’s throwing everyday so that he’ll be ready for whenever the season does start up.
“I don’t want to back off,’’ Matz said. “I’m hopeful we’ll get going at some point. Coaches and training staff check in on us for our health and with what we’re doing. … Guys, I think, are keeping themselves ready. We just want to play games and get back.’’
Martin adds that new pitching coach Jeremy Hefner is among those checking in regularly with Matz, whose role on the team has suddenly become much more significant with the injury to right-hander Noah Syndergaard.
“My mindset coming into this thing when I came home [from spring training] has been to be ready for whenever the season starts,’’ Matz said.
In 2019, Matz started a career high 32 games but saw his ERA tick up to 4.21 with a 1.351 WHIP. He signed a one year deal for $5 million to avoid arbitration over the Winter.
Steamer and ZiPS both projected Matz to post similar numbers to last season and he’ll most likely slot into the number three spot in the rotation behind Jacob deGrom and Marcus Stroman.
