Sandy Alderson said recently Steven Matz has nothing left to show the organization pitching in Triple-A, suggesting he is ready to pitch at the big league level.
There’s just one problem – the Mets have too many starting pitchers in the major leagues, as they have six starting pitchers currently on the active roster.
But that doesn’t mean the Mets aren’t trying to find a way to fit Matz into the puzzle. According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the team is considering putting Noah Syndergaard in the bullpen to setup Jeurys Familia, and inserting Matz into Syndergaard’s spot in the rotation.
That’s one way to accommodate Matz. Theoretically, it would certainly help mitigate the innings limit challenge the team faces with Syndergaard, as he has about 105 innings left before reaching his max for the year. At the same time, Matz also has about 100 innings left to reach his limit, and the organization is already limiting his innings at Triple-A in order to preserve him for when he eventually gets promoted this season.
This scenario playing out is highly unlikely, however.
All along people within the organization – both publicly and privately – have viewed Syndergaard strictly as a starting pitcher. Teams talk about different things all the time, many of which never happen. That could be what this ultimately amounts to.
Besides, they have Jenrry Mejia coming back in three weeks, Vic Black in Triple-A (although he has a minor groin strain at the moment), and a bevy of other options to consider to aid the bullpen (including Akeel Morris, who will be activated tonight) before they move their prized prospect into an uncomfortable role.
Ideally, the Mets would simply find a new home for Dillon Gee, and maybe consider moving Jon Niese into the bullpen. Niese could then theoretically spot start a pitcher once every turn through the rotation (meaning he could start on or close to schedule in each turn) to limit everyone’s innings, which would help promote their six-man lite rotation, five-man heavy, or whatever they want to call it, and given everyone a rest once every four to five weeks.
Just Mets 