New York Mets pitcher Steven Matz underwent surgery Tuesday to remove a bone spur. The team hopes to have him back for Spring Training.
New York Mets left-hander Steven Matz has not pitched in a game since August 14. Matz underwent surgery on Tuesday to remove a “massive” bone spur from his left elbow. Following surgery, he is expected to make a full recovery and be ready by Spring Training. Team doctor David Altchek performed the surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.
Matz decided to pitch through the injury at first, fearing the surgery would end his season. The injury ended his season anyway, and now he has undergone the procedure. The Mets also had Matz have a platelet-rich-plasma injection in his throwing shoulder on Tuesday to help an impingement. Matz will miss the entire postseason after both procedures.
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The Mets rotation has been hit with injuries left and right this season. They lost right-hander Matt Harvey to surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in July. Jacob deGrom was lost in August, as he had surgery on his elbow to repair the ulnar nerve in his right elbow. And last but not least, the team lost young right-hander Zack Wheeler in March 2015 to Tommy John surgery and he has yet to pitch in a major league game since. The Mets will miss these three key arms as they look to win back-to-back National League pennants.
Matz, 25, was 9-8 this season with a 3.40 ERA in 132.1 innings. His 8.8 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 were also very strong this year for the Mets. Those number will be missed, as the Mets take on the San Francisco Giants tonight in the National League Wild Card Game. If the Mets were to win the game tonight against the Giants, Matz would have been a part of the team’s postseason rotation starting in the NLDS.
The only starting pitchers left that the Mets had on Opening Day are Bartolo Colon and Noah Syndergaard. Right-hander Robert Gsellman has been great filling in after all of the injuries. Gsellman has a 2.42 ERA with a 42 strikeouts in 44 innings since being called up in August. If the Mets are able to win tonight’s game, Gsellman figures to be the No. 3 starter for the NLDS behind both Syndergaard and Colon.
With all of the young pitching, it is hard to see the Mats going very far in the postseason. But that is exactly what everyone was saying last season when they stole the National League pennant. Gsellman will be a name to watch in place of Matz if the Met’s are able to move on to the NLDS.
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