The New York Mets’ season has been sunk by injuries and bad pitching performances, and perhaps no one embodies that problem more than Steven Matz. Matz missed over two months of the season with an elbow injury, and after a few solid starts upon his return from the disabled list things have gone off the rails for him. Since tossing seven shutout innings against the Washington Nationals on July 3rd, Matz is 0-6 with a 10.19 ERA in his last eight starts. Matz’s ERA has gone up nearly four runs in the process, rising from 2.12 on July 3rd to 6.08 after last night’s debacle against the New York Yankees, when he gave up seven runs (six earned) in just 3.1 innings.
Things have gotten so bad for the Mets that they are considering skipping his next start, or even sending him down to the minor leagues, Abbey Mastracco of NJ.com reports. A demotion to Triple-A might be the last resort for Matz, but the Mets clearly want to let him clear his head to try and get past these recent struggles. It doesn’t appear to be a mechanical issue with Matz, although there has been speculation he has been tipping his pitches over the last few weeks. Matz also has had issues with pitch selection, notably refusing to throw his excellent slider more than a few times a game in order to prevent injury issues. All of those factors combine to create the slump Matz finds himself in, and there doesn’t appear to be a clear path out of it going forward.
The Mets need to figure out how to fix Matz ahead of next season, and clearly running him out there every fifth day isn’t working right now. The problem is that even if the Mets wanted to skip Matz, they don’t really have a good option to replace him in the rotation. Matt Harvey is currently working his way back from a shoulder injury on a rehab assignment, but needs at least one more start before he can rejoin the rotation. The only other viable starter on the 40 man roster is right hander Tyler Pill, who has looked underwhelming in several starts this season.
The struggles of the starting pitching, Matz included, could lead to a shift in strategy for the Mets this winter. The Mets should focus more on fortifying the bullpen to take some of the burden off their starters, who might last longer without the pressure of having to carry the team. Sandy Alderson has already begun working on his 2018 bullpen, acquiring A.J. Ramos at the trade deadline and adding several relief pitching prospects as well. None of this will matter, however, if the Mets can’t fix Matz and the rest of the rotation.
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