
The Mets’ top three starters, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler are all primed to have big seasons this year, but their No. 4 guy, Steven Matz, could be right behind him. And maybe even more.
Earlier this week, new Mets’ catcher, Wilson Ramos, compared the southpaw to the former’s old teammate, Blake Snell. He says Matz has the tools to make the leap into stardom, it’s just about being mentally strong at this point.
“It’s more mental. They already have the talent,” Ramos said, according to Tim Healey of Newsday. “You have five days. They pitch every five days. You got four to do everything you want. The day you pitch, that should be a serious day.
“Blake is young, but he was doing that. I talked with him a couple times [in 2017]. The next year — so, last year — he was really focused about what he was doing. I was impressed.”
Over the winter when Ramos signed with the Mets, he was provided with a book with info on each pitcher to study. Matz stuck out to him, because like Snell, he’s a big lefty with a strong curveball.
Matz, 27, has shown flashes of potential in the bigs, and has the repertoire to be a stand out pitcher. Mets’ pitching coach Dave Eiland echoed the notion that for Matz, is just a matter of being mentally strong.
“As long as Steven’s mind is right, the body will follow,” Eiland said.
Last year, Matz made a career high 30 starts and went into the offseason healthy for the first time as a pro.
“I felt coming into spring training, I was more ready than I’ve ever been,” Matz said. “I always felt like I was behind so I can really throw easily with no sense of urgency, ‘OK I just gotta get ready for spring.’ It was just keeping it going.
“(DeGrom) did it and he really liked it. So going into the offseason healthy, I was like, ‘OK I’m going to give that a try’ and I really liked it as well.”
If that happens, the Mets could have another Zack Wheeler case on their hands. Or maybe even the aforementioned Blake Snell.
“Why not? They have the same talent,” Ramos said. “Big lefty, throw hard, good curveball. To me, they look very similar. Very similar. He can do that.”





