Just Mets

–This was original posted on May 29, 2015 at 10:06 am–

Down on the farm, yet another young Mets starting pitching prospect is dominating and making a strong case to graduate to the big leagues.

Earlier this week, Steven Matz tossed seven shutout innings, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out seven. He also drove in two runs at the plate.

Matz is now 6-2 with 1.99 ERA in ten games and nine starts for the Las Vegas 51s, a team in a league where offense is inflated and the pitching is at a premium.

The question emerging, the Mets effectively have seven big league arms for a five man rotation, so what are the Mets going to do with Matz?

The team’s five-man rotation is already full, and the Mets intend to add a sixth arm to the rotation after they activate Dillon Gee from the disabled list in time for Tuesday’s game against the Padres.

The Mets are fortunate to have so much quality starting pitching depth at their disposal, and it has paid off in their ability to mitigate the loss of Zack Wheeler and manage innings limits and workloads for their younger and older starting pitching.

However, what can easily be perceived as a good problem can become weird and awkward, as it has for Gee since the off-season.

So what can the Mets do? Here are some options the Mets have…

Skip starts in the six-man rotation.

The Mets could conceivably slot Matz in as a spot starter for someone in the six-man rotation. For instance, if they want to give Bartolo Colon a break, they can skip him, go one short in the bullpen for a day, and call up Matz as a fresh arm.

This, of course, is highly unlikely. The six-man rotation is already disruptive to the pitcher’s routine, and unless a guy is injured, this would only further get a guy out of sync, including Matz who would not be going consistently with four, five or even six days rest.

If the Mets were sticking with a five-man rotation, this would make a little more sense, but not with six starters.

Transition a starter to a reliever.

This isn’t as easy as snapping the fingers and making it happen by any means.

The way things stand right now, there’s simply no room for Matz in their rotation. They could send him to the big league bullpen, but a) there’s a logjam there too, b) the Mets have been very open they do not intend to transition or use Matz out of the bullpen.

In addition, Terry Collins said recently Jon Niese is not a candidate to go to the bullpen, and Gee struggled in his transition to the bullpen during Spring Training, which makes his ability to succeed in that role uncertain at best. Besides, they already have Carlos Torres who will likely revert back to the long man/emergency starter role once Vic Black and/or Bobby Parnell return.

Still, assuming the Mets can’t trade someone, Gee seems like a logical guy to eventually go to the bullpen, especially since the Mets already flirted with the idea once this season. It doesn’t mean that’s ideal or it will work, but if they intend to accommodate Matz, eventually something will have to give.

Trade someone.

This is obviously the most logical solution, but by no means is it guaranteed to happen. However, it solves the logjam, eliminates awkwardness, and provides certainty to each of the starting pitchers.

Trade rumors have swirled around Gee pretty much since the conclusion of the 2014 season. They really heated up during the winter meetings, so much so that at the team’s Holiday Party Sandy Alderson seemed confident he’d be able to move one of his starters – presumably Gee – by the end of January.

The point is, the Mets have shopped Gee, and could end up shopping him again as the trade deadline draws closer. If they’re able to move him, that would open up the sixth spot in the rotation for Matz.

But again, it’s not guaranteed to happen.

Leave Matz at Triple-A.

The Mets may not have a choice but to leave Matz in Las Vegas for the time being. That’s tough, because if he’s ready, it’s hard t justify keeping him in the minor leagues and using his 180 or so innings there if they can be put to use here. Then again, one of the reasons he was passed over for a promotion when Gee went on the disabled list was due to a lack of professional experience. It’s easy to forget he missed so much time recovering from Tommy John Surgery.

Sure, if they move a guy or someone gets hurt, Matz can certainly expect a call to the big leagues. But there is no guarantee of that, and I’m sure nobody is wishing anyone get hurt anyway.

Again, their luxury of having quality excess is beginning to have consequences. This may be one of them.