Mickey: Laboring lefty Matz won’t be skipped
ST. LOUIS — Steven Matz had a long meeting with Mickey Callaway and pitching coach Dave Eiland Thursday morning. The struggling lefthander is likely to make his next scheduled start, Tuesday night against the Braves at Citi Field, even though Callaway would not commit to it.
With an off day on Monday, the Mets could skip Matz’s turn through the rotation.
“I don’t think so,” Callaway said when asked about skipping Matz. “Not at this point. We had a good talk with Matz this morning. The good thing is he recognized, or is recognizing, what is going on. Things are speeding up and he’s having trouble slowing them down when things start to go bad. That’s probably the first step.
“He’s probably never thought about this before,” Callaway continued. “He and Dave are going to work diligently between starts to try and put him in a better place to go out there and keep his mind where it needs to be.”
Callaway believes Matz unraveled Tuesday night after a throwing error. The Long Island lefty dropped to 1-2 with a 4.98 ERA. He has pitched just 21.2 innings over five starts and has yet to get out of the sixth inning this season. Still, Callaway is confident Matz can turn it around.
“He’s got such good stuff. I was just looking at his stuff. He has not pitched a lot of professional innings in his life. He breezed through the minor leagues and didn’t throw a ton of innings. Back in the day most teams wouldn’t have put him in the big leagues yet because he didn’t fill an innings quota in the minor leagues,” Callaway said. “He’s still young, he still has a lot to learn. We’re going to get him where we need to get him.”
Matz’s throwing error also was the first time he had to pitch with runners on base Tuesday night. That has been an issue for Matz, who allowed 20 stolen bases in 2016. Opponents are hitting .409 off him with runners in scoring position and .346 with men on base this season. It’s been an issue in his past with opponents hitting .295 with RISP and .294 with runners on over his career.
MAINTAINING MICHAEL
Michael Conforto, who hit a pinch-hit single Thursday, was
out of the starting lineup to try to keep him healthy, according to Callaway.
“That was a significant injury. We want to keep him healthy,” Callaway said. “He doesn’t have any issue with the shoulder at this point, but he didn’t have a spring training, 30 games in spring training, we’re just trying to make sure he’s in a good spot.”
Conforto had surgery to repair the posterior capsule in his left shoulder last September. While the slugger has yet to put up eyepopping numbers, he has had productive at-bats. Hitting just .208, Conforto has drawn 16 walks in 71 plate appearances. He has a .403 on-base percentage.
“He’s been great. He’s on pace to walk a lot of times. He’s done a great job,” Callaway said. “I think his swing is coming around, he feels like he is getting on time a little bit more. As long as you stick with that approach, slumps aren’t that big of a deal, because you are still getting on base. Even when he doesn’t have hits, he is getting on base at a high rate. Especially in that position.”
CABBY BACK
Asdrubal Cabrera, who sat out Wednesday night’s game with a balky right hamstring, was back in the lineup Thursday. He said he felt the hamstring tighten up on him during batting practice Tuesday night.
“It’s good, I am OK now,” Cabrera said.
The veteran second baseman had an issue with that same hamstring that nagged him last season. Cabrera went 0-for-6 Thursday, but made a spectacular defensive play in the second.