Meet the Matz: LI's Own Is Tendered But His Future Is Still Unclear

My neighbor Nicholas is a huge Mets fan and loves baseball. The middle schooler can always be found playing catch with his dad in front of his house, usually wearing the orange and blue.

One of his favorite players is Steven Matz.

One reason is that his mom is a guidance counselor at my old high school, and Matz' mom was (not sure if she still is) a staff member there. So one day, she was able to get Matz to meet her son, which was a highlight of his young Mets fandom.

It all started out so great, do you remember? Matz making his debut at Citi Field, stellar on the mound and at the plate, the image of his family — led by his grandfather — going nuts in the stands. The future looked bright.

He had his injuries, and often struggled with his temper, but a young, hard-throwing lefty is valuable, and prior to 2020, Matz looked like he was coming into his own. He made 30 starts in each of the previous two seasons with a combined ERA of just above 4, winning 16 games and averaging just under a strikeout per inning. 

With Noah Syndergaard out getting Tommy John surgery, Matz, at age 28, was in great position to take a big step forward in 2020 and establish himself at the top of the rotation behind Jacob deGrom.

We all know what happened next.

In the COVID-shortened season, where no player had a chance to bounce back with a big second half because there was none, Matz was awful. Maybe beyond awful. It was mind-boggling.

Despite having the best K rate of his career, as well as his best average fastball and slider velocity, Matz was pummeled. Literally. His pitches were usually right down the middle and hitters hammered him. Their rates of barreling him up, hitting him hard and sending the ball out fast placed Matz at the bottom of MLB. 

His season-ending line: A 9.68 ERA, a 1.69 WHIP and an astonishing 14 HR allowed in just 30.2 innings.

Despite all that, the Mets tendered Matz a contract, and he will reportedly earn $5.1 million, although it is also reported that the contract is not guaranteed.

I wouldn't have been surprised to see them cut bait, but with pitching depth an issue, it made sense to keep him. He supposedly has met with former pitching coach Phil Regan to figure out what went wrong, and you'd hope that Jeremy Hefner has some ideas.

The Mets will undoubtedly acquire or sign at least one middle-to-top starter, whether it's Trevor Bauer or Jake Odorizzi or Blake Snell or whoever. Which means Matz is basically the fifth starter until Thor makes his triumphant return.

And while Seth Lugo really, really, really wants to start, he's just much better in the bullpen, and the numbers back that up. Figure Lugo to bolster the back of the pen with newcomer Trevor May and Edwin Diaz. 

I was surprised that lefty Chasen Shreve was let go as he was effective for much of the year and is a much-needed lefty reliever. Somehow Robert Gsellman is back.

Maybe Matz ends up in the pen as well, although with his first-inning issues, that may not be the best solution. But he's on the team, still a work in progress. He's approaching 30, and yes, sometimes lefties take longer to develop. 

Let's hope Matz figures it out. Fellow Long Islander Steve Cohen hopes so, too.