Steven Matz tossed 80 pitches in a simulated game he participated in Port St. Lucie, Florida on Thursday. The New York Mets pitcher is said to have consistently thrown his fastball at 93-94 mph.
After the instructional game, he mentioned that his back felt fine. "I took two weeks off, so I was a little rusty the first couple innings, but I feel really good, really strong. My arm feels great, back feels great. I'm ready to go," Matz told the New York Daily News.
The rookie left-hander has been dealing tightness in his right shoulder blade, which prevented him from doing his last start of the regular season. His recent outing at the simulated Instructional League game in Florida is done in order to test himself. The 24-year-old pitcher then followed it up with a long-toss session the next day.
His good performance in the said simulation, which also involved two runs, four hits and one walk while hitting 94-mph on the gun, has put an end to some doubts about his performance. "Definitely feel like I'm where I need to be now,"Matz said in a video posted on MLB.com.
Shortly after his stint in Port St. Lucie, the New York Mets have finally announced that he is included on the team's roster for the upcoming division series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team's 25-man NLDS roster is featured below.
Rotation:
- Jacob deGrom
- Noah Syndergaard
- Matt Harvey
- Steven Matz
Bullpen:
- Jeurys Familia
- Tyler Clippard
- Addison Reed
- Bartolo Colon
- Jonathon Niese
- Erik Goeddel
- Hansel Robles
Game 1 starting position players:
- Travis d'Arnaud
- Lucas Duda
- Daniel Murphy
- David Wright
- Ruben Tejada
- Michael Cuddyer
- Yoenis Cespedes
- Curtis Granderson
Bench:
- Kevin Plawecki
- Wilmer Flores
- Kelly Johnson
- Michael Conforto
- Juan Lagares
- Kirk Nieuwenhuis
While Matz has been placed on the roster and is slated to start Game 4, there is still a chance that Game 1 starter Jacob deGrom will take his slot, depending on how the series plays out.
Mets manager Terry Collins mentioned that a decision has yet to be made and will not be made until after the third game, when the team know where they sit in the series. "It all depends a lot on tonight. If he [deGrom] goes deep into a game, if he has to work hard, he probably won't come back on three days' rest. This kid's never done it in his whole career. When you're asking young guys to do things that they've never done before, you can set yourself up for some failure." Collins explained prior to the Mets' game on Friday. Nonetheless, if Matz does not start Game 4, he would be still available for relief appearances.
