Mets not considering rookie lefty Matz as an option for bullpen
No matter how Steven Matz fares in his rehab start at Double-A Binghamton on Monday night, the New York Mets will not move the rookie left-hander to the bullpen.
Matz is expected to rejoin the Mets on Tuesday after making his fourth rehab start. He was superb in his last outing, allowing one hit over six scoreless innings, but threw only 56 pitches.
"If we're comfortable that he's healthy coming out of this start then he'll probably join the rotation in some capacity," Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said Monday.
New York manager Terry Collins cited Matz's injury history and said it wouldn't be fair to ask the 24-year-old "to do something he hasn't done before." Ace Matt Harvey and rookie Noah Syndergaard are expected to skip starts once Matz returns to the rotation.
Matz, who is rehabbing from a partially torn lat muscle, won his first two career starts in impressive fashion. He pitched 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball against Cincinnati on June 28 in his major league debut before tossing six scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 5.
(h/t New York Daily News)
Collins says Matz to be used exclusively as starter. Wouldn’t be “fair to him” to subject to bullpen demands given injury history. #mets
— David Lennon (@DPLennon) August 30, 2015
