Mets lefty Steven Matz ready for a healthy 2017 season

Steven Matz’s health and durability is a concern going into next season, but the lefty believes 2017 will be a turning point for him.

Steven Matz is ready to get back out there for the Mets in 2017. The left-hander spoke today at his “Meet the Matz” winter pitching workshop in his old high school, Ward Melville High School, and told reporters how he feels his recovery is going. Matz underwent surgery to remove bone spurs from his pitching elbow in early October.

According to Newsday’s Owen O’Brien, Matz talked about a pretty great goal he’s set for 2017. The southpaw says he hopes to make at least 30 starts next season. This would be the first time Matz reaches this goal in his young career. In 2016, he made 22 starts before the bone spurs forced him to the disabled list for the rest of the season.

More from Rising Apple

Matz also shared that he feels he should be ready to go in time for Spring Training as he’s recently started his throwing program back up.

“I feel on track. I’m really raring to go. I’m starting to get that itch for spring training coming around and I think a lot of the guys are. That seems to be the trend,” Matz told reporters.

Matz’s goal to stay healthy for the entire 2017 season is great, but whether or not that happens is definitely uncertain. In two seasons that Matz has played (in 2015, he was a mid-season call-up), he’s suffered some type of injury that’s caused him to miss time.

Obviously injuries can happen to anyone, but like with Travis d’Arnaud, and David Wright, the words “injury-prone” are starting to be thrown around about Matz. A clean, injury-free 2017 campaign would go along to show the fans, and the front office that he can be a piece for the long-term.