Hey, Nineteen: Steven Matz

[Edgy MD]

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Hey, I'm talented, inconsistent, handsome-but-sad, married-to-a-Contemporary-Christian-vocalist Steven Matz.



I get it. I get why you don't get me. When folks give up the long hit, some guys are like Bartolo, and get all zen and just detach themselves from the disappointment. Some other guys are like Leiter, getting angry, but turning that anger into focused adrenaline. Some guys are like Pedro and do a little of both — act unflapped as the batter rounds the bases, and then unleash on the next hitter.



Then there are guys like me. I see the ball fly toward the gap, and I make that "Oh, God, it's happening again to me!" face. It comes across as fatalistic and defeated. Bad body language follows and I don't focus and the next guy gets away from me, and soon the game gets away from the team. I get it. I'm not the first. Ron Darling used to make whiney faces after a big hit, and he's always telling folks how he's fourth all-time in Mets wins.



You know what he had? He had Keith coming over to the mound to tell him to stop with the defeated face, and get his head out of his ass and back into the game.



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But I don't have a Keith. I'm one Keith short of being Ron Darling or somebody. Maybe my new catcher Ramos is Keithy. I don't know yet.



But I've got something Ron Darling never had. I've got a reason. I wear #32 on my jersey, and this year, I'm making that meaningful, dedicating my season to the memory of Tom Hausman. Every strike I throw, any successful thing I do that you feel you might want to cheer, give a passing thought to the legacy of my fellow Mets #32, Tom Hausman, the first-ever Mets free agent signee, and a gloriously injury prone (but decent enough when healthy) swing-man over 4+ years during the Mets cultural valley that was the Torre era.



We're both handsome mo-fos too.



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So root for me this year. And if you can't bring yourself to do that when you see me on the mound, make it an occasion to root for Old Tom. I'm pitching for both of us. And if folks cheer for both of us in 2019, I'm certain that ...



... I'm certain of what? What's gonna HAPPEN?! The season's started, but not my season, so there's still time to tell me.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Matz should be more like Tom Hausman and become a long reliever for the Milwaukee Brewers.



Till then expect the same old Matz this year. 20 starts, 2 DL stints, a few 5-0 leads given away, a few 7-inning, 10-K, 2 hitters, lots of unearned deference for being from Long Island and the last of Omar's surviving draftees.

[MFS62]

14-8 3.37 ERA, 34 starts, 1.30 WHIP

Lefties mature later.

Later

[seawolf17]

A somehow unremarkable 15-4, 3.55, until he pitches a shutout in Game 4 of the WS.

[HahnSolo]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Matz should be more like Tom Hausman and become a long reliever for the Milwaukee Brewers. Till then expect the same old Matz this year. 20 starts, 2 DL stints, a few 5-0 leads given away, a few 7-inning, 10-K, 2 hitters, lots of unearned deference for being from Long Island and the last of Omar's surviving draftees.

Yup.

[Fman99]

=seawolf17 post_id=5558 time=1553863674 user_id=91]
A somehow unremarkable 15-4, 3.55, until he pitches a shutout in Game 4 of the WS.

[smg58]

The biggest error bars of anybody on the team. If he keeps the ball in the park, he could be our fourth ace. Or he could give up home runs like last year and be less good/lucky at getting himself out of trouble. Hoping for the former, obviously, but don't ask me to make a bet on it.

[batmagadanleadoff]

NL Comeback Player of the Year.

[seawolf17]

=smg58 post_id=5561 time=1553865631 user_id=62]
The biggest error bars of anybody on the team. If he keeps the ball in the park, he could be our fourth ace. Or he could give up home runs like last year and be less good/lucky at getting himself out of trouble. Hoping for the former, obviously, but don't ask me to make a bet on it.

[batmagadanleadoff]

After Matz's first full season, the player he was most similar to, according to Baseball Reference's similarity scores, was ...

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Warren Spahn.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

You'd think it would be Koufax considering how much the Wilpons must love this guy. Hey have you heard? HE'S FROM LONG ISLAND

[smg58]

=seawolf17 post_id=5564 time=1553867337 user_id=91]
=smg58 post_id=5561 time=1553865631 user_id=62]
The biggest error bars of anybody on the team. If he keeps the ball in the park, he could be our fourth ace. Or he could give up home runs like last year and be less good/lucky at getting himself out of trouble. Hoping for the former, obviously, but don't ask me to make a bet on it.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: You'd think it would be Koufax considering how much the Wilpons must love this guy. Hey have you heard? HE'S FROM LONG ISLAND

Nah. Koufax wasn't much of a pitcher for his first several seasons, even if he was a flamethrower from the get-go.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Mickey just said Matz is a bullpenner till the All-Star break and maybe also after that.



About time.

[Edgy MD]

Strange that he waits until he's finally gotten two lefthanders activated to make that move. It's probably a healthy one, though.

[G-Fafif]

Matz and Jeremy Accardo cooked up this scheme to get him on track and Callaway signed off on it, noting they won't need LIOSM to start again until July 20. “And by then, this'll be somebody else's problem,” the manager chuckled (not really on that part).

[Edgy MD]

Matz becoming a swing man only makes his dedicating of his season to Tom Hausman that much more profound.

[Vic Sage]

how effective can he be, considering his first inning is always his worst?

[seawolf17]

Vic Sage wrote: how effective can he be, considering his first inning is always his worst?

Literally. Dude's got a first-inning ERA over 11. Although maybe if you give him a chance to kind of air it out a bit, maybe he shakes some of that.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Vic Sage wrote: how effective can he be, considering his first inning is always his worst?

I thought about that too. But as right as it is to "blame the bullpen" on taking us out of this race the fact that Matz crapped all over the mound in four of his last six starts is an element all on its own and a contributor to the pen strain.



It was this or a Bobby Jones style visit to Syracuse afaic

[Vic Sage]

oh i agree the move is good, as a way to avoid using Matz right now. But in terms of him being more effective in the pen, i don't see it.