After a 2020 season that included a bump from the starting rotation and a stint in the bullpen, Steven Matz recently went “back to basics” with former pitching coach Phil Regan in order to right what went wrong.
Per Tim Healey of Newsday, Matz met with Regan – whom he has known the longest when it comes to coaches – down in Port St. Lucie last month for five days.
During their time together, the two avoided any new tweaks or additions; the focus remained on what they had previously worked on in both 2012 (when Regan was Matz’s pitching coach with St. Lucie) and 2019 (when Regan was the Mets’ interim pitching coach).
“We thought we could refresh him and get him going into spring training in a positive attitude… so that he wasn’t going in on the season that he had.”
And that season, of course, wasn’t filled with many positives.
In nine games (six starts), the left-hander put up a 9.68 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP – which, unsurprisingly, led to the aforementioned shift from rotation to bullpen.
However, Regan was watching as Matz struggled mightily, and feels that velocity may have something to do with those struggles.
According to the former Mets’ pitching coach, Matz told him that his uptick in velocity during the season led him to believe that he could start pitching up in the zone more.
“I think as a result, he overthrew the ball a little bit and tried to throw the ball by guys,” Regan said.
“Even though you throw 97 mph, you gotta pitch. You gotta be able to hit those spots.”
Though nothing new was covered in their five days of work, Regan suggested they work on balance – both in a physical sense, as well as mental.
When he would watch Matz gear up to throw a pitch, Regan noted that Matz’s head would be falling behind his feet. Regan would rather pitchers keep their heads right above their feet. Additionally, Regan suggested Matz land on the ball of his foot instead of his heel – that way, he wouldn’t fall off to the third-base side.
Following their collaboration last month, Regan feels confident that the young left-hander will get back on track in 2021 and come into spring training with a more positive mindset.
“You don’t find a lot of lefthanders around with his kind of stuff. That’s pretty good.”
