It took 20 years but the Binghamton Mets have finally won another Eastern League title. Steven Matz, one of the Mets top prospects helped to get them to the championship game and then sealed his season with an incredible pitching performance last night.
Matz got the start for the B-Mets, and took a no-hitter into the 8th inning. His final line included 11 strikeouts, a single earned run, which scored after he was pulled from the game and just 2 hits. Matz also walked just 2 batters over his 7 1/3.
Throughout the night, Matz was the story. He completed his 2014 campaign in flashy style after pitching to a 2.24 ERA over 140.2 innings this year. The lefty struck out nearly a batter per inning and walked just 35 all season. That control has been a calling card for Matz who walked just 90 batters in 276 innings in the minor leagues. What makes Matz different than the rest of the pitchers in the Mets farm system is that he flew under the radar for so long. He missed the better part of two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May of 2010.
Looking back on the surgery and his long recovery, Matz didn’t look at the surgery as a negative in his career. “But looking at it now, I just see it as a blessing because I learned so much about my body and just matured physically and mentally. It kind of eased me into it, and in the long run I feel it was almost a good thing” (Mike Puma, NY Post).
The emergence of Matz has truly been one of the best stories surrounding the team this year and this was a perfect conclusion to the 2014 campaign. He is poised to become the rare lefthanded ace of the Las Vegas 51’s at the start of next season and with so many righty studs in the farm system, his road to the major could be short if certain trades are made this offseason. For now, Matz will celebrate Binghamton’s win in the championship and look back on a phenomenal season of pitching.
