New York Mets: Steven Matz getting his act together

New York Mets Steven Matz beginning to get things together and make a run at a spot in the starting rotation.

The New York Mets are putting together their all-important starting rotation. Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom are set for games one and two. Matt Harvey and Jason Vargas have been leading the way for two of the remaining spots (per Anthony DiComo). That leaves one more spot to go. Zack Wheeler and others are involved in the competition for the final spot. There is a guy that was falling behind in the race.

The guy we are talking about is Steven Matz and he may be turning the tides around. In yesterday’s start against the Marlins, he went 4 1/3 innings and allowed only two runs. The most important part is that he was able to adjust. He had a rough first inning, allowing two runs and needed North of 30 pitches to get himself out of the jam. Here is Matz talking about it, how he needs to trust his pitches.

Per Dicomo, since giving up ten runs in his first 1 2/3 innings of the Spring, Matz has been vastly better, pitching to a 2.16 ERA.

With Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman likely to begin the year in the bullpen, the winner of the Matz/Wheeler battle will be in the rotation and the loser will start the year in Las Vegas. It will clearly be a big blow to either one as they each know they have major league ability.

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Seeing Matz finally hit his form would be exciting for the entire fan base. Wheeler has been the unfortunate one to suffer major injury. Matz, on the other hand, has simply never lived up the hype when he came up from the minors. To have a hard throwing left-handed pitcher is becoming more and more unique. Matz finding his form and being able to stay healthy would give the Mets a leg up.

That’s not to say it would be disappointing if Wheeler earns the job. It’s just that Matz came up with such fanfare that it would be great to see him find his form and sustain it.