Matz faces surgery on elbow

After pitching at times through what has been described by sources as “excruciating” pain, Mets lefthander Steven Matz will undergo season-ending surgery to reposition the irritated ulnar nerve in his left elbow, the Mets announced Monday.

Not until an exam Monday with team physician Dr. David Altchek was it revealed that a problem with Matz's ulnar nerve had caused the persistent pain. It's the same injury that last year forced Jacob deGrom to undergo season-ending surgery. Since then, deGrom has bounced back to turn in a stellar season, an encouraging sign as Matz heads for surgery.

Altchek recommended surgery, which will be scheduled in the next several days, ending what has been a painful season for the 26-yearold left-hander.

Earlier, Terry Collins said Matz likely would be scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday night, and that he could be headed to the disabled list. But the manager offered vague and contradictory answers about the nature of the problem.

Collins conceded that Matz's arm had been bothering him and had impacted his performance, but stopped short of saying he was injured, apparently unaware of the diagnosis.

“This is not an injury, this not an injury,” Collins said. “It's just an issue of he needs to shut it down for a little while … If he had to, he could pitch tomorrow. We're going to probably put him on the DL.”

The painful nerve problem may explain an uncharacteristically poor season for Matz (2-7), who hasn't won since June 28 while watching his ERA spike to 6.08, the highest of his career.

Previous exams showed no structural damage to his left elbow, and this latest round of tests confirmed those results. They revealed no damage to his ligament or tendon, just a nerve condition that Matz wanted to power through.