When Noah Syndergaard was shelved with a torn UCL early this spring, the New York Mets were immediately tasked with making the most of a shortened starting rotation.

When Marcus Stroman went down, straining the starting five even further, the Flushing faithful had to be talked down.

Steven Matz, 29 and a former second-round draft pick (2009), had shown flashes of brilliance over his five-year tenure in Queens but had cemented himself into the middle of the rotation.

With Jacob deGrom and Syndergaard heading up the front-end, the left-handed Long Island native’s job description was simple – get the job done and solidify the meat-and-potatoes portion of the staff.

Now that Matz has been thrust into the second spot, the dynamics have changed but the goal remains the same – get the job done.

In his first outing of the 2020 season on Saturday against the summarily stacked Braves, Steven Matz did just that.

The southpaw worked around a baserunner in the first, getting Freddie Freeman to ground into a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play, but allowed his first blemish in the second on Adam Duvall‘s opposite-field solo shot into the right-field corner.

From there, Matz cruised.

A walk to Freeman in the fourth was the last baserunner the left-hander would allow, striking out the side in the sixth to end his day with a bang – and the lead, after Amed Rosario‘s RBI triple and Jeff McNeil‘s sacrifice fly in the fifth put the Mets ahead, 2-1.

Jeurys Familia, Dellin Betances, and Justin Wilson kept the Mets ahead until Marcell Ozuna‘s game-tying homer off Edwin Diaz in the ninth.

Then came Atlanta’s ghost-runner aided three-run 10th, knocking some of the shine off Matz’s encouraging outing – but that positive shouldn’t be lost in the negatives from Saturday.

A solid second starter is what this Mets team needs right now. On Saturday, Steven Matz appeared to fit the bill.

Six innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts and just one walk will surely suffice. Doing that against this vaunted Braves offense is a heck of a first step in getting to where Matz wants to be.

His sinker (56 pitches) induced seven swings-and-misses and seven called strikes (a great sign) and his changeup was as sharp as it was effective, with just four of 21 offerings put in play at an average exit velocity of 85.3 MPH – measly, at best.

But Matz’s curveball – appearing sharper and crisper than it ever has – was the weapon that kept hitters on their toes all day. On 15 curves, just two were put in play (four called strikes, two whiffs).

If Matz can continue to utilize his full repertoire and pitch with the confidence we saw on Saturday, he will continue to baffle opposing hitters. Keep ’em guessing, Matzy.