Yes, you did read that right. 24-year-old left-hander Steven Matz has finally been called up from Las Vegas and will make his Major League debut with the New York Mets on Sunday afternoon against the red-hot Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field. This was a no-brainer because Matz had nothing left to prove in the minor leagues, but what exactly does this mean for the 37-37 Mets?
Well, first of all, I know what the majority of Mets fans are thinking. “Can he help our offense?” “Can he help us in the field?” “Can he play third base?” The answer to those questions is no, but this is significant for this team not only for this year but moving forward as well. It is a huge deal because next season there is a strong possibility of having a starting rotation of Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, and Zack Wheeler. That rotation is absolutely loaded with the potential to hang in with any team in baseball. Don’t groan, Mets fans, there’s still plenty of hope for this season, but it’s nice to look at what you have for the upcoming years too.
Now, do the Mets need to make a move for one more bat to bolster the lineup by the deadline? Yes. Do they need to get healthy? Absolutely. The injury bug has decimated this lineup, as catcher Travis d’Arnaud can’t seem to stay healthy, second baseman Daniel Murphy has been out for longer than expected, and of course, third baseman and captain David Wright has been out with spinal stenosis. There really is no real timetable for that one as that will most likely affect Wright for the rest of his life. Those are three of this team’s best hitters. It’s a tricky situation for General Manager Sandy Alderson because Wright is trying to come back, so do you go get a legitimate third baseman even though your captain still feels that he can play? Or do you continue to plug in replacements to hold down the fort for when/if he does come back?
Anyway, what this means for the Mets is that if Steven Matz comes up and pitches effectively like they’re expecting him to, that Jonathon Niese will most likely find himself back on the trading block because you can’t have a six-man rotation for too long without running into problems. Currently, the Mets have deGrom, Harvey, Syndergaard, Niese, Matz, and Bartolo Colon in their rotation. One of them will be the odd man out, and since Matz is a lefty and Niese has been as inconsistent as he has been, I expect this team to deal him by the trade deadline and move on.
Load up in the starting rotation, the bullpen will be better when Jenrry Mejia comes back from his suspension in July, hope that at least two of those three top position players I mentioned can stay healthy, and trade for one more solid outfield bat. If the Mets can manage to do those things without more going wrong, I expect to see them playing in meaningful games in September, and dare I say… October.
Matz has pitched to a 7-4 record and has an earned run average of 2.19 in his 14 starts in Triple-A Las Vegas this season. It would’ve almost been cruel to make him wait for that call any longer.
