Just Mets

On Sunday in Los Angeles, Terry Collins said Steven Matz had been dealing with a lat strain under his armpit.

Matz acknowledged the injury, but said it didn’t affect him while pitching.

That certainly seemed to be true on Sunday when he allowed two hits in six innings for his second win of the season.

However, it’s clearly an issue, so much so he could be headed to the disabled list.

Matz has been diagnosed with a torn lay muscle on his left side, and will not throw for three weeks.

Matz will be re-examined at that time.

Matz received a PRP in his lay muscle at the Hospital for Special Surgery on Thursday.

Matt Ehalt of the Bergen Record says Jon Niese will start on Sunday on regular rest.

There is absolutely no reason to risk making this thing worse, nor should they risk Matz altering his mechanics and injuring another part of his body.

Matz is on an innings limit anyway, as are the rest of the starters with the exception of Jon Niese and Bartolo Colon. The Mets could simply revert to a five-man rotation for the time being and go back to six when Matz comes back, assuming he returns in relative short order.

Alternatively, the Mets could bring Dillon Gee or Logan Verrett back, insert one of them into the six-man rotation after the break and stay the course.

And of course, this means Niese will presumably remain a Met through the trade deadline, for better or for worse…

At any rate, this is certainly disappointing and the rotation will unquestionably take a hit. With this offense, the Mets need all the stellar pitching they can get – now they have to pick up the pieces and figure this out and quick.

The timetable is probably 4-6 weeks on this as he will need time to rehab and make a couple of minor league rehab starts, assuming he suffers no setbacks.