UPDATE: So much for “not serious.” According to Matt Ehalt of the Bergen Record, the Mets confirmed that Matz was diagnosed with a partial tear of his left lat muscle. He was given a platelet-rich plasma injection and will be shut down from throwing for three weeks before being re-examined. Brutal news for the Mets, who will likely face questions about why they let Matz pitch after he complained of symptoms after his first start.
8:12 p.m. ET: Adam Rubin of ESPN New York hears that Matz’s injury is “not serious,” but that he’ll miss his next scheduled start on Sunday. That’s encouraging, but the Mets haven’t had the best track record with injuries recently.
8:05 p.m. ET: Mets rookie left-hander Steven Matz has 1.32 ERA over his first two starts in the majors while driving in five runs, but it will be a while before we see him again.
According to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, Matz will miss “several weeks” due to a sore lat muscle. As Adam Rubin of ESPN New York notes, Matz dealt with some lat tightness after his major league debut against the Reds on June 28, but he received treatment and was cleared to pitch against the Dodgers last weekend. The 24-year-old pitched six scoreless innings in that game, so it didn’t have an impact on his performance, but apparently things have gotten worse. It’s a bummer.
With Matz down, the Mets will presumably go back to a more traditional five-man rotation with Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Bartolo Colon, and Jon Niese. They still have Dillon Gee with Triple-A Las Vegas if they want to go back to a six-man rotation, though they’d have to add him back to the 40-man roster.
