Mets Season in Review: Steven Matz

Steven Matz struggled through injuries, durability concerns raised after off-season surgery.

Aug 14, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) pitches against the San Diego Padres during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Steven Matz has flashed great potential and the ability to be a fixture in the New York Mets rotation. He’s also battled through his fair share of ailments including the latest: off-season surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow.

Matz had been pitching with the issue for a good chunk of the season, which eventually was cut short after his finale on August 14. The 25-year old southpaw has been injury plagued from the start. Matz had Tommy John surgery during the 2010 season and didn’t pitch professionally until 2012, three years after he was drafted. Since then, various ailments have popped up.

For the season, Matz went 9-8 with a 3.40 ERA. Overall, especially considering what he had to deal with, Matz pitched very admirably. Let’s take a more in depth look at what Matz did over the course of the season.

How He Fared in 2016

Sep 19, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets player Steven Matz (32) during the game against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

What strikes me off the top is that a lot of Matz’s numbers outside of his earned run average stayed around the same in 2016 from his smaller sample size in the Majors in 2015. Here are a few of those numbers:

Year – 2015 – 2016

WHIP – 1.234 – 1.209

K/9 – 8.8 – 8.6

H/9 – 8.6 – 8.8

Opp. BA – .250 – .257

Opp. OBP – .304 – .306

It’s a positive that he showed he could sustain these numbers, which would have placed him on average in the 25-50 range among all qualified starters with the ability to move forward. Matz has shown that capability to adjust and progress quickly in his career track. Once he got rolling, it didn’t take long for Matz to reach the big leagues, debuting on June 28, 2015.

Sure, his numbers were much better in April and May, but consider the fact that Matz was using his slider that he broke out toward the end of 2015 more often. When the bone spur occurred, Matz practically went away from the slider and adjusted with the other pitches in his arsenal.

To that point, four of his five best game scores from 2016 came in the first two months of the season. He also ripped off a string of seven straight quality starts from April 17-May 25. Plus, his month of May was one to remember: 4-0 in five starts with a 1.31 ERA, .172 opponent batting average, and just four walks in 34.1 innings.

The 2017 season will be a test for Steven Matz

Aug 9, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) delivers a pitch against Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

While Matz is still developing to a degree and injuries have interrupted his path, there are some things that can be worked on nonetheless. Above all, he has to be able to stay healthy. We all know Matz is a talented pitcher with a potentially bright future if he can successfully stay away from the injury bug going forward.

Beyond that, Matz has struggled at times in early innings. Six of his 14 home runs allowed last season came in the first two innings. He also cumulatively allowed 24 earned runs and opponents hit .282 against him during that opening stretch of the game.

The big question though is what will he do with the slider going forward? It added more diversity and made Matz tougher to hit, but it also could be directly correlated to his latest injury. Matz used it around 13 percent of the time in April and May, but reduced that number to three percent from June through August.

Can Matz stay healthy for an entire year?

Jun 30, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) reacts after the top of the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

When Matz is healthy, he’s a firm fixture in the middle of this rotation. As it shakes out with all things being equal, he would probably wind up behind Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, and Jacob deGrom. That would basically make him the best fourth starter in the league.

Matz brings good velocity from the left side and command that made a steady improvement last season. He is also a guy that has a short term memory off of rough starts. Remember his season opener against the Marlins? Matz didn’t even get out of the second inning in that 10-3 loss on April 11.

What happened on his second turn, six days later? Matz came back with one of his best starts of the season. He spun seven scoreless innings and struck out nine batters, which wound up being his season high while allowing only three hits. That was on the road as well. Oh and the opponent? That would be the eventual American League champion, Cleveland Indians.

With Matz and the rest of this rotation, they would be a top two starter on almost any other team in the league based on merit and/or potential. Matz has already shown he’ll stick in the rotation.

Matz is an integral part of the Mets rotation

Jul 18, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

This part is pretty simple. Matz is under team control with the Mets for two more years before he becomes arbitration eligible in 2019. There are absolutely no rumors out there that he’ll be traded and he’s a valuable piece to this roster.

What happens down the line if the injury issues persist could be another story. For now, Matz is a Met and will be for the foreseeable future. Matz will have every opportunity to land a sizable contract down the line with his promise that we’ve highlighted throughout.