Oft-injured lefty won’t be with Mets on Opening Day

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Steven Matz’s elbow continues to bark and once again the Mets have to wonder if their vaunted collection of fireballers will ever all be healthy at the same time.

Just as Zack Wheeler was creating good vibes around the ballclub, looking sharp and strong on the mound again, the Matz injury, thought to be minor, has the Mets holding their breath again.

At the very least, it appears the injury won’t be resolved as quickly as Matz or the Mets were hoping. After throwing on the side on Monday and Tuesday, and still experiencing some level of pain, the team sent him to be examined by a doctor on Wednesday.

Terry Collins announced the news here after the Mets’ game with the Braves, while making it clear that Matz will not be on the Opening Day roster. “He’s being examined today,’’ Collins said. “We should know more but we don’t plan on having him pitch the next few days.” The manager said Matz likely would have an MRI as part of the exam. The 25-year-old Long Island lefty said a couple of days ago that he thought he just needed a few days of rest and light throwing to be ready again but the Mets decided not to wait any longer.

“Nothing’s changed over the last couple of days,’’ Collins said. “It’s just that the last two days he played catch, and he still feels it, so we thought it would be important to have him looked at.’’ And so it goes for Matz, whose history of injuries is becoming more and more of a concern for his ballclub. As Sandy Alderson said on Sunday, when announcing the news that Matz had elbow irritation, “It’s worrisome that he continues to get injured off and on.’’

The Mets were hoping that surgery to remove a bone spur in the elbow during the offseason would get him back on track, after pitching through elbow pain last season but then being shut down late in the season due to a shoulder impingement.

Now they have to be worried that this could turn into something significant. Remember, Matz had Tommy John surgery back in 2010 and missed two full seasons afterward due to lingering pain.

The good news for the Mets is that they have so much quality depth in starting pitching, coming into camp with seven proven starters, but it remains to be seen how they decide to handle it.

Robert Gsellman cemented the fourth spot in the rotation with a brilliant spring, so it’s between Seth Lugo, who pitched so well for Puerto Rico in the WBC, and Zack Wheeler, coming back from missing two years after Tommy John surgery as well.

Collins indicated on Wednesday that the Mets came to a decision during internal meetings on Tuesday night, but weren’t ready to announce anything

publicly.