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As for the Mets and Steven Matz, it doesn’t need to be complicated, no matter how much Luis Rojas channeled Gregory Hines on Wednesday afternoon with his tap dancing:
Of course, the Mets should try to make Matz their Ryan Yarbrough. They should keep him in their starting rotation, in other words, not just as a starter.
I am not sure it will work. The veteran left-hander poured all kinds of ingredients into the thick gooey that is the 9am ERA he brought to Marlins Park on Wednesday. I’m sure, however, that the Mets, their ravaged starting pitching depth, can’t afford to give up on Matz.
“He knows what the plan is with him, what he has to execute in the game,” Rojas said before the Mets continued their streak with the Marlins. “We had conversations about what to expect or when to be ready to take the ball and what to do when he takes the ball. He is ready. … He’s ready to receive the ball whenever he’s going to get it, and he’s ready to go on and perform.
The Mets weren’t ready, a day before Matz’s turn, to declare their plans or absence for the 29-year-old.
“We are not engaged,” Rojas said. “We want to see how we are tonight in the game and then we hope to be able to announce who is going to get the ball. [Thursday]. “
A vote of confidence for Matz, eh? Imagine the night before the prom, your date says, “Let’s see how things go tonight, and then I hope I can announce who’s coming with me tomorrow.” Wouldn’t it have made more sense to commit to Matz as the second man, the identity of the opener to be determined, and pass it off as, “We want to try something different, because we know how much we need Steven ”?
Because boy, do they need him. With David Peterson and Michael Wacha gone for the moment and Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard gone for good, with Rick Porcello unable to convert his reduced home-run rate from 2019 to a reduced ERA from 2019, the Mets should kill for the guy who averaged 1.95 wins over the substitution from 2018 to 2019.
This version of Matz is crushed to the tune of 3.5 homers per nine innings, more than double the 1.5 he has posted each of the previous two years. He’s throwing too many strikes, it seems, as his strikeouts are up (9.0 of 9, up from 8.6 in 19) and his steps down (2.92 to 2.35) .
“We’re working with him in particular to make sure he stays focused on executing his throws and controlling his throws,” said Rajos. “That’s the problem with him.
Matz’s first round was actually his best, a 1.80 ERA and 0.500 OPS in 18 home plate appearances. So one could argue that it makes no sense to disrupt his pace at the start of his release. Or you can count on him to avoid the top of rival rosters the first time around, always starting strong after picking up the opener and saving a few balls for later in the game. The bare truth is that the downtrend Marlins could present the perfect opportunity for a dress rehearsal for this idea.
Yarbrough, a southpaw like Matz, established himself as the first successful second man (we really need a cooler nickname for this role) in 2018, when the Rays introduced the world’s first baseball player. He pitched 38 games, including just six starts, and totaled 147 ¹ / ₃ innings, entering regularly in the second inning and lasting as long as the eighth, with a respectable 3.91 average.
There would be no shame in Matz pivoting, temporarily or permanently, to this new age gig, or the Mets announcing the change in advance. Rather, it could be one more useful brick for the Mets as they attempt to build a wall of pitching reliability, dubious height but intriguing foundation.
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