MATZ MORE LIKE IT
Lefty finally gets in mix for Mets’ last rotation spot
LAKELAND, Fla. — Steven Matz has finally found some confidence in his fastball. The conviction that the Mets lefty was lacking his first two starts of the spring came back to him Friday. He was able to finish his pitches and rely on his fastball to get outs against a solid Tigers lineup.
So with the clock on him, Matz has finally joined the battle for the fifth starter spot.
After two unimpressive outings in Florida, where he walked four and gave up 10 runs in less than two innings, Matz made some mechanical adjustments to finish his pitches. He responded with four scoreless innings, scattering three hits, walking one and striking out two. Matz threw 53 pitches, 21 for strikes, including six swing-and-misses.
“It’s still spring training, I still have a lot of work to do,” said Matz, who looked relieved after his work Friday. “I am happy with today, tomorrow is a new day. I have to put in the same work I did last week.”
Matz knows he still has a lot to prove to first-year manager Mickey Callaway and pitching coach Dave Eiland.
“We were looking forward to this. I think this was huge for him,” Callaway said. “He’s got to have some success under his belt to get his mind the way he needs to get it going into the season and that was a big step for sure.”
With Zack Wheeler, Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo already pitching well and making it clear that they too want consideration for that fifth spot, Matz was
behind heading into Friday’s start at Publix Field. The winner of this competition will get the last spot in the rotation, and the losers face transitioning to the bullpen or being sent to Triple-A.
Matz has not been in a competition for a job since 2015, and now he’s trying to focus on just getting himself in the best position possible.
“They are going to do whatever it takes to win,” Matz said. “That’s the atmosphere we have around here. I know if I work as hard as I can, give my team a chance to win. If that’s what they think is best, then that’s great. “I am not walking in eggshells in other words,” Matz added. Despite having to come from behind, Matz is actually on pretty firm ground, according to Mets sources. While he has an option left (and so do Wheeler, Lugo and Gsellman), the Mets had not discussed sending him to Triple-A. They are also reluctant to put him in the bullpen because of his long history of injuries. Wheeler, whom the Mets front office had penciled in for the bullpen coming into this spring, also has a concerning injury history. He needed two years to recover from March 2015 Tommy John surgery and only got through half a season last year.
But he has pitched his way into a real battle. In five innings over three appearances, Wheeler has allowed one run, struck out eight and has not walked a batter.
“He’s given us what we want to see,” one Mets source said. “He’s given us something to think about.”
And there are many things that Callaway and Eiland have to consider. Matz gives the Mets a second lefty in the rotation. Wheeler potentially gives them another hard-throwing “bridge” reliever in the pen. Lugo and Gsellman could also fill that bridge role.
“We’ll look at things for everybody differently,” Callaway said. “I think it’s going to be who can impact our team the greatest and what Matz and what Wheeler can do and what other guys can do are totally different. We have to take all that into account, a lot of things.”
As a lefty, Matz has an edge. The Mets also see Wheeler, if he were to accept the role, as potentially an important addition to the bullpen.
Either way, the clock is ticking on the competition.
While Lugo and Gsellman have both come in as relievers, if the Mets decide to put either Matz or Wheeler in the bullpen, they will want to use spring training to help that pitcher transition. Ideally they’d like to give either one a chance to pitch out of the pen once or twice.
“We need to be cognizant of that. We don’t have an absolute timeline, like by this date we have to make a decision by, but we definitely are thinking about that in the back of our minds,” Callaway said.
Friday, Matz got himself back in the competition; now he has to work fast.