Regarding the Mets and Steven Matz, this does not have to be complicated, despite how much Luis Rojas channeled Gregory Hines on Wednesday afternoon with his tap dance:
Sure, the Mets should try to make Matz their Ryan Yarbrough. They would have to keep him in their starting rotation, in other words, only not as a starter.
I’m not sure that will work. The veteran left-hander has poured all sorts of ingredients into the thick goo that is the 9.00 ERA he brought to Marlins Park on Wednesday. However, I am sure the Mets, repeating their starting depth, will not be able to afford to give up on Matz.
“He knows what the plan is with him, what he needs to execute in the game,” Rojas said before the Mets continued their series with the Marlins. ‘We had the conversations about what to expect or when we are ready to get the ball and what to do when he gets the ball. He’s ready. … He’s ready to get the ball if he wants to, and he’s ready to move forward and perform. “
The Mets were not ready, a day before Matz’s turn, to explain their plans or lack thereof to the 29-year-old.
“We are not committed,” Rojas said. “We want to see how we go in the game tonight and then we can hopefully announce who gets the ball. [Thursday]. ”
Quite the confidence vote for Matz, huh? Imagine the night before senior prom, your date declares, “Let’s see how things go tonight and then I can hopefully announce who’s accompanying me tomorrow.” Wouldn’t it make more sense to move Matz as the second man in, determine the identity of the opening, and spin it like, “We want to try something different, because we know how much we need Steven”?
Because young, they need him. With David Peterson and Michael Wacha for the moment away and Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard gone forever, with Rick Porcello unable to convert his reduced rate of home from 2019 into a reduced ERA of 2019, the Mets would have to kill for the man who averages 1.95 wins top replacement from 2018 to 2019.
This version of Matz gets dressed to the tune of 3.5 home games per nine innings, more than double the 1.5 he placed each of the previous two years. He throws too many strikes, it turns out, because his strikeouts are up (9.0 per nine, compared to 8.6 in ’19) and his walks are down (from 2.92 to 2.35).
“We work with him in particular just to make sure he stays focused on the execution of his pitches and the command of his pitches,” Rajos said. “That’s the thing with him.”
Matz’s first inning has actually been his best, a 1.80 ERA and .500 opponents’ OPS in 18 plate appearances. You could therefore argue that it makes no sense to limit his rhythm at the beginning of his outing. Or you can bank on him, avoid the top of rival lineups for the first time, still start strong when solving the opener and save some bullets for later in the game. The naked truth is that the downward-trend Marlins may present the perfect opportunity for a dress to repeat this idea.
Yarbrough, a lefty like Matz, established himself as the first successful second man in (we need a cooler moniker for this role) back in 2018, when the Rays introduced the opener to the baseball world. He grabbed in 38 games, only six of which started, and a total of 147 ¹ / ₃ innings, which regularly entered the second inning and lasted as long as the eighth, with a respectable 3.91 ERA.
There would be no shame in Matz, temporarily or permanently, turning to this new-age performance, nor in the Mets announcing the change in advance. Quite the opposite, it could be one more useful brick for the Mets, as they try to build a wall of pitching reliability, the height questionable but the foundation intriguing.
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