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Does Steven Matz Deserve His Own Thread? Meet the Matz!

batmagadanleadoff Feb 13 2015 10:44 AM

This ‘hard to catch’ Mets lefty can be their next deGrom By Kevin Kernan February 12, 2015 | 8:47pm PORT ST. LUCIE — The little boat sits in the back corner of the parking area at the Mets’ minor league complex. This is not just any boat. The 14-footer with the 15-horse engine belongs to pitchers Steven Matz and Jacob deGrom. The two often take it out bass fishing. “We love fishing,’’ Matz said Thursday. “We get out there and mess around, there’s nobody around. It’s fun and Jacob is such a good guy. He’s been fishing longer than me, but I would say I’m catching more fish than him this spring.’’ Noted deGrom, “Hopefully that changes soon.’’ Added Matz, “We’re just out there trying to catch the famous 5-pound bass.’’ When deGrom got married after last season, Matz was in the wedding party. When deGrom had his incredible success last season, coming out of nowhere to win the NL Rookie of the Year award, Matz couldn’t have been happier for his friend. DeGrom’s success also brought Matz’s career into focus. Noah Syndergaard is the Mets’ top pitching prospect, but Matz is 1A. One high-ranking Mets executive told The Post, “I think Matz will be up before the year is out.’’ Said Matz, 23, of deGrom’s success: “It’s almost like, if he can do it, I can do it.’’ DeGrom sees nothing but good things for Matz. Modal Trigger The small motorboat that Mets pitchers Steven Matz and Jacob deGrom use when they fish for bass together in Florida.Photo: Kevin Kernan “He’s unbelievable,’’ deGrom said. “We play catch a lot, and he’s hard to catch because he throws such a heavy ball.’’ On Thursday the two fishing buddies worked on sharpening Matz’s delivery in the bullpen. This fish tale is a tale of two talented young pitchers, who didn’t get away. Matz’s fastball ranges from 92-97 mph. The left-hander also throws a curve and changeup. He does not throw a cutter. “This past year I threw a two-seamer, and that helped me get a lot more ground balls early in the count,’’ Matz said. In 2014 at Class-A St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton, Matz was 10-9 with a 2.45 ERA last year. He was magnificent in the Eastern League Championship game for Binghamton, striking out 11 over 7 1/3 innings and surrendering just two hits in the eighth. Matz underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2010. DeGrom had the same surgery in October of that year. “Even though I missed a couple of years, I was still down here working,’’ Matz said. “I met guys like deGrom, and that is how he became one of my really good buddies.’’ Funny, how it all worked out. Lou Petrucci, Matz’s coach at Ward Melville High in East Setauket, said he never has had a player as accomplished or as hard-working as Matz. “I’d have to come and open the gym for him at 6 a.m.,’’ Petrucci said. “He’d be waiting for me, saying, ‘Hey Lou, you’re late. Sorry, Steve, I’ll be early next time.’ He’s such a wonderful kid. He comes back to talk to my sixth-grade class and is always helping out at clinics and camps.’’ Of his high school coach, Matz said, “That guy has a great heart and would do anything for you.’’ Matz is one of three children. He has an older brother Jonathon, a graphic designer, and a younger sister Jillian, an environmental science major at the University of Delaware. His dad Ron is a service manager at a car dealership. His mom Lori is an athletic director’s secretary. “My mom and dad are really good parents and they taught me how to work hard,’’ Matz said. “Even in school, I wasn’t the smartest, but I would always try real hard. “I was a Mets fan growing up, but I was more of a player’s guy and my favorite player was Vladimir Guerrero.’’ Matz is a good hitter, too, but always had that gift of an arm. “Natural smoothness,’’ Ron said. “When Steven was 10, the scout Larry Izzo saw him at a baseball camp and handed me his card and said, ‘Keep in touch.’ ” When Matz was drafted in 2009, Ron Matz showed Izzo the business card from years earlier. No, it will not be long before Steven Matz is fishing for major league wins with his friend Jacob deGrom. The small motorboat that Mets pitchers Steven Matz and Jacob deGrom use when they fish for bass together in Florida. http://nypost.com/2015/02/12/jacob-degr ... even-matz/

themetfairy Feb 13 2015 11:26 AM Re: Does Steven Matz Deserve His Own Thread? Meet the Matz!

Ashie62 Feb 14 2015 07:27 PM Re: Does Steven Matz Deserve His Own Thread? Meet the Matz!

He could, he really could.

batmagadanleadoff Feb 22 2015 11:21 PM Re: Does Steven Matz Deserve His Own Thread? Meet the Matz!

Why Mets’ ‘great’ Steven Matz is just beginning of true contender By Ken Davidoff February 23, 2015 | 12:28am PORT ST. LUCIE — If we can switch boroughs for a moment, that the Yankees find themselves in their current predicament isn’t because Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy failed to become frontline starting pitchers on their watch. The same goes for Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances and Andrew Brackman. The problem is there weren’t even more high-end arms behind them. You need depth upon depth upon depth to build a perennial baseball champion, particularly among your pitchers, where the rate of attrition can be depressing. So it is that native Long Islander Steven Matz, even as he stands as this year’s hot, young Mets arm, can understand better than most how fragile a perch he occupies. “I’m just happy that I’m healthy and able to make every start,” Matz, 23, said Sunday at Tradition Field. “That’s really what I try to focus on. I don’t really focus on all of the other stuff that everyone says.” Matz might wind up as the last of many gifts left behind by Omar Minaya, whom the Mets dismissed as their general manager in the fall of 2010. Minaya selected Matz, out of Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, as his first pick in the 2009 amateur draft, in the second round;. The Mets sacrificed their first-round choice that year to sign compensation free agent Francisco Rodriguez. That Matz didn’t throw his first professional pitch until 2012 reflects his challenging journey to this point. Matz underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2010, and he still was experiencing soreness nearly two years later. Dr. David Altchek, chairman of the Mets’ medical staff, had performed the original procedure on Matz and told him, in the spring of 2012, that he didn’t need another operation, his pain notwithstanding. Matz went to see noted orthopedist James Andrews for a second opinion. “He said there was a chance I would need a second Tommy John,” Matz recalled of his meeting with Andrews. “But he said it’s tough to see an MRI [exam] after someone has already had surgery because of the scar tissue. He said, ‘Go out there and just throw. It’s either going to tear or something’s going to break up. You’re going to know if you just go out there and just let it go.’ “That’s what I did.” And after exciting, pain-free seasons in 2013 and 2014, Matz lurks on the Mets’ radar. He’s a natural candidate to step in for injured guys, or make a spot big-league start when the Mets decide to rest Harvey to monitor his innings. “Guys in your system, [when they’re] high picks, [they’re] pretty polished guys to begin with,” Paul DePodesta, the Mets’ vice president of player development and amateur scouting, said Sunday at Tradition Field. “You expect them to go through the levels relatively easily, but they don’t necessarily keep getting better. Because they’re not necessarily challenged. “Steven, as he’s gone to each level, just keeps getting better.” Matz’s strikeouts-to-walks ratio allows him to stand out among the crowd. Last year, splitting his time between Single-A St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton, Matz put up 3.74 strikeouts for each walk. “He can throw just about anything in any situation,” said catcher Kevin Plawecki, who worked two games with Matz at Binghamton last year before getting his own promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas. “That, to me, is what separates him from being great and just good.” “A lot of people throw hard, and other guys can throw strikes, but he can really pitch with his fastball,” DePodesta said. “He can be behind in the count and guys still don’t necessarily center it up. It’s got a lot of life to it. He can drive it down in the zone. He also has great carry through the zone. His fastball plays better than a typical fastball, even at the same velocity.” That fastball generally sits between 92 and 94 miles per hour, and Matz also has developed a curveball and changeup. His long path to this point makes it easy for Matz to ignore the hype. More than most, he can appreciate he’s just one piece of a large puzzle; there are interesting arms like Gabriel Ynoa and Marcos Molina behind him in the system. It’s on Matz to be a piece that fits and sticks. http://nypost.com/2015/02/23/why-mets-g ... contender/

batmagadanleadoff Feb 22 2015 11:26 PM Re: Does Steven Matz Deserve His Own Thread? Meet the Matz!

Going to the Matz once again ..... __________________________ [fimg=222]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/New_York_Daily_News_logo.png/800px-New_York_Daily_News_logo.png[/fimg] Steven Matz has everyone in awe, even Matt Harvey, at Mets camp BY Kristie Ackert NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Sunday, February 22, 2015, 11:10 PM PORT ST. LUCIE — Sandy Alderson and his assistants, J.P. Riccardi and Paul DePodesta, moved closer to the end of the bullpen. Noah Syndergaard leaned against the back fence, watching intently, while Jacob deGrom glanced over at the next mound. Even Matt Harvey stopped his own work for a second to take a peek at leftander Steven Matz. Matz was going through his workout seemingly unaware of the eyes and expectations trained on him Sunday morning. The Long Island native has blazed through the Mets organization after a rough start to his professional career and came into camp this year with everyone looking to see if he can live up to the hype. Sunday, at least, he seemed to hold his own in a bullpen full of big arms. “He’s good. Really, really good,” said Harvey walking off the field. “You look at him and the other young pitchers here, we’ve got the potential to have something really, really special for a long time. “Really, really special.” Dan Warthen did not need to see Sunday’s bullpen session to know that Matz soon can be a part of the Mets rotation. “He can pitch in the big leagues this year,” the Mets pitching coach said. Syndergaard is further along in his progress through the Mets’ minor-league system and may be the next of the Mets’ young arms to burst into the majors. But Matz is pushing his way quickly into the Mets’ plans. His fastball sits between 92 and 96 mph. He has a “really sharp curve” and a “very good changeup,” according to catcher Travis d’Arnaud. Coming off an impressive stint in Double-A (6-5 with a 2.28 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 71 innings) Matz already has developed a reputation as a “gamer.” “The thing I like about Steven Matz, even in the minor leagues, is this guy’s pitched two years in a row, in the championship game for his team,” said Terry Collins. “Not only did he pitch them, he dominated the game.” Matz took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in the Eastern League title game last year, leading Binghamton to the crown. The year before that he was the starting pitcher in low-A Savannah’s South Atlantic League clincher. Last month DePodesta, the Mets VP of Player Development, compared Matz’s development and mental makeup to 2014 National League Rookie of the Year — and Matz’s spring training roommate — deGrom. “I am not predicting the Rookie of the Year 2015 by any stretch,” DePodesta told The News last month. “But I do think there are a lot similarities between the guys.” Warthen sees the similarity in the maturity of both players and their mentality, probably the result of both having had Tommy John surgery early in their careers. While deGrom had a relatively smooth rehab, Matz missed two seasons when he struggled to break through scar tissue in the elbow. “Ever since he missed two full years he has progressed incredibly quickly,” Warthen said. “He’s maturing. You watch him next to deGrom and Harvey and you see he understands the process.” Matz is sticking to that process, working on his mechanics every morning. “I don’t really have any expectations here,” Matz said. “I just try to go and do my work and get better from day to day.” Growing up a Mets fan in Suffolk County, Matz, born five years after the 1986 World Series, knows what the young pitching — including himself — could mean for the organization. “Definitely,” Matz said turning to the end of the clubhouse where the major league starters’ lockers are. “You look at that row right there from (Dillon) Gee to (Zack) Wheeler, those are some talented guys and then there are some other really good pitchers here all fighting for a spot. “It all begins and ends with pitching . . . and there is some really good pitching here.” http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... -1.2125462