A Steven Matz promotion to the New York Mets may come within the next three weeks, a team source told ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin.
The source, asked about the suggestion of July 1 as a possible promotion date, “told ESPN.com it very well might be sooner — as in within the next three weeks.”
Rubin added that Matz will join the team as a starter, although they are unwilling right now to commit to how they will make that happen.
Matz, 24, has a 1.94 ERA in 12 Triple-A appearances this season, tallying 74.1 innings. During that span, he has a 9.1 K/9 rate and a 3.3 BB/9. He was ranked the 33rd-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus before the season, as well as 66th-best by MLB.com.
This report comes just two days after Sandy Alderson said Matz had nothing left to prove in Triple-A, opening up speculation that the team could bring up Matz before the All-Star break.
With the projected cutoff for Super Two nearing (June 20), the Mets may still wait until then to promote the lefty, given how close it is. However, the team is clearly very eager to bring him up.
