In just the ninth start of his career, Steven Matz was impressive last night against the Kansas City Royals. While the game ended up slipping away from him and the Mets, the team has to be extremely pleased with how well he pitched and handled the pressure.
In five innings pitched, he allowed two runs and seven hits while striking out five. Matz retired 12 of the first 14 batters he faced, before he ran into some trouble in the fifth.
He tossed 79 pitches and you could see he was visibly fatigued towards the end of his outing.
“I was really nervous,” Matz explained. “I had a lot of nerves, but once I got out there, I settled down and I felt good. It was just a game after that . I felt good right out of the gate.”
Matz dominated early on as he didn’t allow a run over his first four innings. His electric stuff was overpowering Kansas City and it looked like he was going to lead the Mets to another victory. He hit 97 mph a few times during the first three innings.
However, the Royals scratched out two runs against him in the 5th and 6th innings and the bullpen was unable to hold onto the lead.
“It’s tough,” he said. “Nobody wants to lose. We’re all grinding this out the best we can . But it’s baseball. We still have to win three.”
Matz deserved a much better fate last night, but his performance was still very encouraging. Despite the disappointing ending, Matz looked absolutely incredible at times with his mid 90’s fastball and nasty curve ball.
“Steven Matz threw the ball very well tonight,” manager Terry Collins said afterward. “For five innings it was very, very good.”
It’s entirely possible that Matz ends up being the best pitcher in the Mets’ excellent rotation given his outstanding stuff. At least that’s what Frank Viola thinks, and during the Fox broadcast Joe Buck and Harold Reynolds were projecting Clayton Kershaw like success in the future. He just needs to gain more experience and learn how to pitch deeper into games. Once he is able to do that, he’s going to be something special for this franchise for years to come.
