In what has been a miserable 2020 season for the New York Mets left-hander Steven Matz, he will have a final chance to return the starting rotation Friday night against the Atlanta Braves.
David Peterson was scheduled to make the start, but he will be pushed back a day to give him some extra rest. Peterson will now pitch on Saturday. The Mets are hoping to have Jacob deGrom make his next start on Monday after leaving Wednesday’s game with an injury.
Matz’s Season
Matz was sent to the injured list shortly after he was placed in the bullpen. This was after posting a 9.00 ERA in his first five starts. He made one appearance out of the bullpen and lasted only one inning against the New York Yankees. Matz was then sidelined with left shoulder discomfort.
In his five starts, though, Matz pitched brilliantly in his season debut against the Atlanta Braves, but Edwin Diaz blew the save in the ninth inning on a Marcell Ozuna home run. He then had a pretty good outing in his next one five days later against the Boston Red Sox. However, he allowed 19 runs in his next three starts forcing him to move to the bullpen.
The Mets had high expectations for Matz to fill-in as the number two starter with the loss of Zach Wheeler to free agency, and the injury and opt-out of Noah Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman, respectively. They’ve had to turn to guys like Seth Lugo and Peterson to fill in the rotation throughout the season.
Steven Matz might only get two starts the rest of this season. These will be very important as the Mets are now in must-win games. Matz will be a free agent after the 2021 season. The Mets once had high expectations for the left-hander. The Mets were sold to Steve Cohen and pending MLB owner’s approval will take over the team in November. No one knows what kind of changes the new regime will make. Matz is going to have to start showing he deserves to be a part of this team’s future.
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