Reinforcing what I said Thursday about Steven Matz forcing the Mets to make a move, Mike Puma of the New York Post spoke to several people in the front office and the consensus among team officials is that Matz will be wearing a Mets uniform at some point before the All-Star break.
General manager Sandy Alderson also told The Post that it’s “very possible” Matz already would be in the major leagues if the Mets didn’t have a logjam in the rotation.
Asked if Matz has anything else to prove in the minors, Alderson replied, “Probably not.”
“Nothing stands out that he needs to work on, but getting more experience at that level is always beneficial.”
By the end of this month, we could very well see a rotation of Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz, Noah Syndergaard and Bartolo Colon.
We may still lose a bunch of 1-0, 2-0 and 2-1 games, but oh, what a pitching staff.
June 4
If like me, you’ve been wondering why Steven Matz was limited to under 80 pitches in his last two starts, both of which were dominant performances, you’re going to like this.
Mike Puma of the New York Post, asked the Mets about it and was told they are “trying to save his bullets for the big stage.”
Before these last two starts, Matz was averaging 93.22 pitches in nine previous starts including two that were over 100 pitches, so clearly something was up.
Matz now leads the Pacific Coast League with a 1.98 ERA (min. 40 IP), and ranks first in wins, strikeouts, K/9 Rate, and Batting Average Against.
“It’s like taking a big league guy and throwing him against a rookie ball team,” a Pacific Coast League talent evaluator told Mike Puma. “He just dominates every night he goes out.
“He’s done everything he’s supposed to do at Triple-A, and it’s a lot easier to evaluate a pitcher in this league, because if they are as good as Matz is in the Pacific Coast League, he is pretty damn good. They don’t hit the ball against him.”
Unfortunately for Matz, the Mets are stacked in the rotation – a rotation that is carrying six starters.
However, after Jon Niese gave up five runs in four innings to the Miami Marlins in his last start, manager Terry Collins told reporters that he’s very concerned.
“I’m concerned because I have yet to see him in my time here ever pitch where he makes the number of mistakes he’s made.”
Collins is worried about Niese’s lack of effectiveness with his two-seamer and the precipitous drop in his groundball rate, something that was once a strength for him.
That is now four consecutive starts in which Niese has allowed four earned runs or more, and it has seen his ERA skyrocket from 1.95 to 4.42 in that span.
The Mets have lost six of Niese’s last seven starts, and with the team fighting for a wild card spot they can ill-afford to keep sending him out there, especially with Matz dominating start after start the way he is.
During spring training, GM Sandy Alderson said 2015 was going to be about the “best 25.” Last week when the Mets decided to keep Syndergaard and go with a six-man rotation, Terry Collins again said, “It’s about keeping the best 25.”
Of course the big question becomes; what do you do with Niese right now? His trade value is even worse today than it was last winter. I don’t have an answer, but clearly something’s gotta give.
If they recently made the decision to limit innings and pitches for Matz, something must be in the works. He is pushing the envelope and forcing the Mets to make a move.
Matz deserves to be pitching in the big leagues. He has out-performed Syndergaard, Harvey and Wheeler when they were each toiling in Triple-A, which is mind boggling to me and exciting. Can he be the best of the bunch? Hopefully, we’ll all soon find out.
