The “what if I told you” posts are really annoying.
But…
What if I told you a month ago that Steven Matz would be our most consistent pitcher almost 30 games into the season? (You could make an argument for Zack Wheeler.)
Jacob deGrom has an ERA of almost 5.00. Noah Syndergaard‘s ERA is over 6. Jason Vargas is averaging about 3 innings per start. Where would we be without Steven Matz? (And Zack Wheeler.)
If you take away Matz’ awful outing in Philadelphia, he has a 1.84 ERA in 2019. So, aside from one inning, Matz has been terrific all year.
As usual, the defense behind him has been atrocious. Give Matz credit though. He’s limited the amount of times he’s turned into Jon Niese this season after catching a bad break.
The Mets lost the first two games of the weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Mets desperately needed a win to avoid the sweep and fall below the .500 mark. Steven Matz answered the call.
He cruised through the first six innings, only allowing three base runners. Ben Gamel led off the seventh inning with a base hit. It got through the infield because Amed Rosario is unable to range to his left or right. Mike Moustakas then tied the game with a two run homerun.
Matz was approaching 100 pitches. Was he going to implode? No. Not today. He composed himself and got through the inning without allowing further damage. The Mets took the lead in the bottom of the inning. Lugo and Diaz preserved the lead, giving Matz a well deserved win.
Chances are Syndergaard and deGrom are going to figure it out and dominate again.
In the meantime, Steven Matz is showing the Mets he can be relied on.