No health concerns for struggling Matz

SAN DIEGO — Steven Matz might just have a severe case of the yips.

That is the only explanation Mets officials have for the lefty’s sudden decent into the abyss, a four-start stretch in which Matz is 0-3 with a 14.11 ERA.

The latest debacle occurred Wednesday night, when Matz allowed nine hits and six earned runs over three innings in a 6-3 loss to the Padres.

Manager Terry Collins, after consulting with pitching coach Dan Warthen, is convinced Matz is simply trying too hard.

“He is trying to be too perfect,” Collins said before the Mets faced the Padres on Thursday. “You can’t be afraid to miss off the plate. This guy has got good enough control that he knows he can throw strikes. He’s just got to make better pitches. The point is he’s healthy. The velocity says that. He’s just got to relax and make pitches.”

Matz’s next scheduled start is on Tuesday in Colorado.

Collins on the possibility the Mets will be perceived as waving a surrender flag with the trade of Lucas Duda: “If that’s the conversation, they are dead wrong,” Collins said. Robert Gsellman threw 26 pitches in his first rehab start for Double-A Binghamton. The righthander has been on the disabled list since June 28 with a strained left hamstring.

T.J. Rivera has been bothered by a sore throwing arm in recent days, according to Collins, keeping him absent from the starting lineup.