If you thought you had golden treatment after getting back to school following a big win in high school, imagine returning home after being apart of the first New York Mets pennant in 15 years.
Steven Matz, who was one out shy of recording the victory in the NLCS Game 4 win over the Chicago Cubs, has been the toast of Long Island for the past month. I had the chance to sit down with his father, Ron Matz, today and he was certainly proud of his son’s accomplishments this year.
“It’s been crazy because it happened so quick,” he said. “He was in the minor leagues to start the year and got called up in late June and it’s been a whirlwind ever since. It’s been really exciting,” he added.
Matz made his big league debut on June 28 against the Cincinnati Reds. After allowing a leadoff home run to Brandon Phillips, he settled down and had one of the best debuts in, not just club history, but MLB history. He fired 7.2 IP, allowed just 2 ER on five hits and three walks while striking out six. He also went 3-for-3 with four RBI, becoming the first pitcher in history to do so in his debut. He became the first Mets player of any position to do so.
After another dominating effort against the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 5, he went on the DL and did not appear again until September 6 in Miami.
By that point, the Mets had turned around their season and rolled to their first NL East division crown since 2006, thanks in large part to their dominant young rotation and a revitalized offense led by Yoenis Cespedes’ 17 home runs, 44 RBI and .962 OPS.
Despite his lack of experience (only six big league starts entering the postseason), the Mets brain trust decided to pencil in Matz as the Game 4 starter through out the postseason. Manager Terry Collins chose to give him a quick hook in Game 4 of the NLDS and NLDS–the latter kept him from being awarded with the victory.
Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac
“At first it was a little frustrating, but in all honesty, he didn’t get the opportunity to be in that situation being on such short Major League experience. Nobody is really complaining about it,” he said.
Ultimately the decision did not cost the Mets. After Matz was lifted in the 5th inning with runners on first and second, 42-year-old Bartolo Colon entered and struck out Kris Bryant to end the threat. Jeurys Familia closed out the game and the Mets won 8-3, winning their first National League pennant since 2000.
In Game 4 of the World Series, Matz threw five innings, holding the Kansas City Royals to two runs on seven hits without issuing a walk. Unfortunately, the Mets were let down by a critical error by Daniel Murphy in the eighth inning and they were defeated 5-3.
The season ended on the next night with a 7-2 extra inning loss. Just like that, the book was closed on the 2015 Mets, but it will be one that is long remembered for a magical ride from July 31 through November 3. The big four of Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and Matz will hopefully be around for many years to come.
“I definitely think the competition is a good thing. Having four, five solid starters allows them to feed off each other,” he said.
deGrom in particular has been helpful to Matz. They played together in the minor leagues and immediately became close friends.
“Jake has been like a bigger brother to Steve,” he said. “They rehabbed together, he’s older than Steve and he’s been up there so it’s like a big brother kind of thing,” he added.
Ron noted that Matz is a very quiet kid, however, and “Steve is who he is,” meaning that this rapid ascension to stardom is not going to change how he treats people or who he becomes.
The New York Mets are in the enviable position of having five big-time power pitchers under team control and making nothing close to market value in terms of their ability and success.
It is possible that finances will be the reason that this group is unable to stick around like the great Atlanta Braves rotations in 1990s led by Tom Glavine, Greg Madduz, John Smoltz and Steve Avery.
“I’m not looking at the future, we’re just taking it day-by-day right now. Just looking at it right now and the next couple of years it looks like they’re going to be together. We’ll worry about that down the line,” he added.
Fortunately for the Mets, they have exploited a system that allows the team to avoid major pay days for the players until after their third year of Major League service time.
For the time being, the Long Island native and the rest of the Mets will enjoy this time of being the toast of the town.
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