Mets Have Growing Concerns About Steve Matz

The New York Mets clinched the NL East title last weekend when they defeated the Cincinnati Reds on the road. Despite still fighting with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second seed and home field in the National League Divisional Series, the Mets were afforded a chance to start setting up their rotation and lineup for the postseason. But, there has been a wrench thrown in those plans, as Steven Matz has become injured.

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Matz began experiencing back issues earlier this week. The Mets kept pushing his start against the Philadelphia Phillies back, hoping that it was a non issue. But, here we are Saturday and Matz has been unable to take the mound yet this week even had games not been postponed because of weather. Now, manager Terry Collins is saying that it is unlikely Matz will take the mound even this weekend.

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General Manager Sandy Alderson also let his concern be known, saying, “I think the concern level has certainly gone up. It hasn’t seemed to get better. I probably downplayed it a little too much at the outset based on hope rather than information. The fact that it hasn’t responded particularly well is concerning. But that doesn’t mean it won’t respond quickly over the next few days. These things are hard to predict.

The downplaying that Alderson is referring to comes from earlier in the week, when the Mets said that Matz hurt his back when he slept on it wrong. It would seem to be worse than originally thought, but if there is one team that can handle a late season injury to the pitching staff is the Mets. That is something Alderson also touched on, saying, “I don’t think this puts us in a bind. One of the byproducts of having a six-man rotation, at least for a while, is that we have six choices. So I don’t think it puts us in a bind. It just changes the decision-making somewhat.”

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The Mets are not lacking for options in the starting rotation. If Matz is unable to go, the Mets could turn to veteran Bartolo Colon or Jon Niese. Both have looked to be ticketed to bullpen duty for the postseason, but could find themselves in the starting rotation after Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey if Matz does not bounce back from his injury.

While the concern is growing, it will not a hit a high until next week. Matz could pitch next week at the fall instructional league in Port St. Lucie while the Wild Card games are being played. With the deadline for postseason rosters not being until the day of the NLDS Friday, the Mets are afforded some time in figuring things out in regards to Matz.

Collins has said in the past that Matz isn’t a candidate for the bullpen because it takes him a little while to recover from outings. But, if he makes it through an instructional league performance early in the week, there is a good chance he is the fourth man in the rotation for the Mets. “If he goes down [to the instructional league] and gets through that and comes out OK, I’d probably have to say there’s a good shot he’d be on,” said Collins.

This is not what the Mets were hoping for after clinching the division last weekend, but they have been a resilient bunch all season; this will surely not discourage them. While they would like to have Matz, who has already dominated the Dodgers once this season, at their disposal, they will not put him out there at less than 100 percent as they have capable players in Colon and Niese to plug in for Matz until he gets healthy.

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