This is a highly drafted Mets pitcher talking recently about Tommy John’s surgery
“It’s such a common surgery, it’s almost routine. It actually didn’t work out for me to be routine, it took a lot longer than normal. … The only thing I was looking at as a positive was at least I got it out of the way, rather than down the road,” left-hander Steven Matz told SNY.
Matz’s arduous progression from a second-round pick in 2009 to a buzz-worthy Single-A prospect in 2013 acquired added resonance this week when Mets ace Matt Harvey was diagnosed with a partial elbow ligament tear that put a meteoric career on pause and may necessitate the dreaded Tommy John procedure.
Matz’s is a cautionary tale that may yet have a happy ending. The 22-year-old is only now pitching his first full pro season, four summers after being selected by his favorite team out of Long Island’s Ward Melville High School (“We lost all the good athletes to lacrosse, usually,” he said). He was just 18 years old when he went under the knife in May 2010. He missed the entire 2011 season as well, and was limited to six starts at Rookie-level Kingsport in 2012 while battling shoulder tendinitis.
This year with Low-A Savannah, his arm no longer an impediment, Matz has earned plaudits and mostly mowed down hitters in the South Atlantic League. He has a 2.62 ERA with 86 hits and 38 walks allowed and 121 strikeouts in 106 1/3 innings (covering 21 starts, just a shade over five innings per).
“It’s been so frustrating for him the past three years,” said Frank Viola, the Savannah pitching coach, an ex-Met and fellow Long Islander. “The biggest thing was getting him going, getting him through that wall … and to prove he can stay healthy. Once we get through this year, he’s going to be a fast mover.”
The 6-foot-2 southpaw’s four-pitch arsenal has mid-rotation potential: a mid-90s fastball that runs up to 96 mph, a cutter and developing curveball and changeup. Viola pointed to Matz’s curveball as a make-or-break offering, though he said polishing fastball command was first on their agenda.
“He’s got a big, strong body, helps to be left-handed, with a very live fastball,” said P.J. Pilittere, hitting coach for Charleston, the Yankees’ Sally League affiliate. “One of the better arms we saw this summer.”
The big trick for Matz may be forgetting the surgical scar that decorates that left arm.
“I don’t think he really believes how good he is and how his stuff plays up the ladder,” Viola said. “All he has to do is trust it. He’s still not convinced.”