#1
Steven Matz, SP
Biography: A local kid from Sony Brook, NY, Matz was born on May 29th, 1991. He’s also a third generation Met fan. Matz was tutored from a young age by Neal Heaton. Heaton, a former Major Leaguer had this to say:
“The kid, number one, was lefthanded,” said Heaton, a left-hander himself. “The father was 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5, and the mother was pretty tall for a woman. So then you calculate. You know he’s going to be tall. He’s lefthanded. But the thing you can’t teach is the arm action. He had tremendous arm action. The ball exploded out of his hand, even back then.”
In high school Matz played first base and pitched. It’s no secret, to Met fans, that Matz is something of a hitter as well (more on that later). While in high school he developed a rivalry and friendship with Marcus Stroman.
Matz was drafted in the second round of the 2009 draft by Omar Minaya. The Mets were without a first round pick in 2009 and Minaya was forced to reach for talent that came along with some amount of risk. Matz, it was said, had a delivery that might force him to have Tommy John surgery. In 2010 he suffered a torn ligament and so his minor league debut was held back until 2012. Once healthy, he flew up through the ranks of the minors on the heels of Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard (all of whom were drafted years after him).
Scouting: A powerful left-handed pitcher with an “Ace Caliber” fastball, Matz has the “Stuff” of a top major league pitcher. His fastball comes in at 93-95 MPH but has been clocked around 97 MPH at various points. His best secondary pitch is his changeup which is considered to be a plus pitch, especially when paired with his outstanding fastball. His curveball is also an above average offering that he can use to get strikes.
Watching Matz pitch he looks like a seven-year veteran in the body of a young kid. The skinny left-handed pitcher has the power and technique to become one of the greatest Met pitchers of all time.
2015: Matz threw 7.2 innings for the Mets on a summer night in June. He struck out six, limited the opposition to five hits and only gave up two earned runs. With an excellent first outing in the majors, nobody was talking about Matz’s pitching on June 29th (the day after the game). Matz went 3 for 3 at the plate with four RBI and a double.
Through six major league starts in 2015 Matz recorded four wins, a 2.27 ERA and struck out 34 batters in 35.2 innings. He pitched a single game in each round of the 2015 playoffs, against the Dodgers, Cubs and Royals displaying much of the same poise that he’d managed throughout his outstanding 2015 MLB debut.
After all of that, he still qualifies as a Rookie in 2016.
Brian: “You can argue about the positions of every other guy on the list but I don’t see how you place anyone but Matz at number one. It will be great fun to watch his MLB career unfold for the Mets.”
David: “Matz, to me, isn’t a prospect in the traditional sense. He’s not likely to be back in the minors and is an early favorite for the Rookie honors in 2016. He should be a mainstay of the rotation moving forward.”
Rob: “Great, great debut albeit short. In six regular season starts he had an ERA+ of 164. Held his own against the best in the postseason, too. What else is there to say? Perhaps a RoY award is in his future.”
James: “We saw how good Matz could be in the majors this season. The question is not whether or not he will be successful in the big leagues, but just how successful he will be.”
Editor’s Note – Check back this afternoon as individually we talk about guys who we thought were underrated or overrated on our list.
I love everything about this kid and am really excited to see how he’ll do in first full big league season.
You blew it…….#1 is Dilson Herrera and Matz is already graduated to the ML.
The basis for qualification for this, and most every other prospect list out there, is rookie eligibility. Matz still has that, while Herrera does not.
that’s fine for you but your “basis for qualification” doesn’t mean squat to us fans who also keep rankings of our own and don’t think that “rookie eligibility” is the be all and end all for what constitutes a prospect
we all saw Matz pitch in 3 post season series and he is here to stay barring injury whereas Herrera has not made it yet and it remains to be seen if he even gets to the majors until Walker is gone even though he is our best prospect
also, I immediately scratched Verrett off the list as soon as you posted him as graduated and not a prospect
that said, I appreciate the effort
Editor’s Note – Please do not capitalize words in your post, as that is a violation of our Comment Policy
I understand your comment and complaint but when creating a list like this you need to establish rules for qualification.
For what it is worth I consider Herrera a prospect and Matz a major leaguer. The ruling is arbitrary but necessary.
If it’s any consolation, that’s pretty much the way David Groveman feels, too, and he writes about the minors for us on a weekly basis.
With all due respect, I’m going to put more weight into what Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and John Sickels say on the matter than what nickel7168 says.
I’m very grateful that you’re reading and commenting here and I hope you’ll become a regular. We have many different contributors here and varying opinions are embraced, if not adopted.
So the Mets should have five #1 or, at worst, five #1 and #2 starters. Name other teams to have that! 1918 Boston Red Sox? 1954 Cleveland Indians? 1998 Atlanta Braves? Others?
You go much back from 1980 and you are dealing with 4-man rotations. Certainly the 1971 Orioles and 1966 Dodgers deserve mention, although fWAR doesn’t think much of McNally in ’71.
Of course we have no idea how Wheeler will be when he comes back and several guys here will tell you that it’s ludicrous to project him at a #2 level. But it’s fun to dream about.
The one I like the best is Cleveland in 1954, which had 5 starters who had very good stats: Early Winn (ERA+ 135; WAR 5.2), Mike Garcia (140; 4.8), Bob Lemon (136; 4.1), Bob Feller (120; 1.6), Art Houtteman (110; 1.2).
Next year, the Mets’ starters could have stats like this: Matt Harvey (150 ERA+; 5.5 WAR), Jacob deGrom (145; 5.0), Noah Syndergaard (130; 3.8), Steven Matz (120; 2.5), and Zack Wheeler (110; 0.7).
The official prospect status is a bit preposterous. Matz will never again see the minors except for rehabbing etc. While he retains prospect status, hes a major leaguer. Obvious number one, but already converted.
Whats pretty tough to take is that the list otherwise is threadbare. I would be amazed if 2 of that top nine (Matz excluded) ever make it to be every day MLB players. More realistically, there might be one. Given the hope in prospects these days, Id unload the entire system to get real MLB players for the next few years in order to make a real run at a WS win, then start the rebuild over when we cant sign the pitchers. Prospects are nice, but parades are nicer.
Such is the ridiculousness of Herrera already exceeding rookie status, through cups of coffee and still heading for a year in the minors, while Matz will never never see the minors again but is still a prospect. Its lunacy, much like Wins for pitchers and the CYA.
I whole-heartedly disagree on a number of points. The Met farm is not over-stacked with talent but there is still lots of up-and-coming names that could be stars.
Wuilmer Becerra is a personal favorite. He looks like he could be a top hitting outfielder for the organization.
Gavin Cecchini looks like a starting shortstop although he needs to prove that 2015 wasn’t an aberration.
Dominic Smith will hit in the majors and still might gain some additional power. He also plays excellent defense at his position.
Desmond Lindsay has shown nothing to suggest he can’t play in the majors some day. He was just drafted this year.
Brandon Nimmo is not projected as a star but he’s got lots of talent and can become a major league caliber leadoff hitter.
The Mets have 6 shortstops ranked, by us, in the top 15 of the organization.
I have faith that Eudor Garcia or Jhoan Urena will develop into a quality bat at third.
Patrick Mazeika was a total surprise and looks like a beast with the bat.
You can unload players, sure. Who are you getting and what do they cost? This team is not the Yankees.
I think every organization has players and prospects. They’ve all got top 10 lists. The 6 shortstops in the top 15 reflects a weakness rather than a strength, IMO.
I think there are some nice players in the system, though most have a long way to go and much to prove. In that sense, I agree with a commenter who has been shouted down recently for his belief that top prospects bunched at the lower level is a sign of a weak system. He overstates that, since it all depends on the prospects. But in general, it’s easy to be hopeful about a guy like Lindsay because he looks like a player and hasn’t failed yet. Or, he failed in Brooklyn, but it’s understandable to give him a pass at this early point in his career. But #7 overall? For a guy who couldn’t hit in Brooklyn? It’s all projection.
I like to see a player succeed at St. Lucie. Those are the numbers, both offensively and defensively, that I trust. At AA, I don’t think we see the same crucible. The real test is A+ level.
As for the Mets system: I don’t really care about guys who might have careers as 4th outfielders and utility infielders. Those are a dime a dozen. Kirk Nieuwenhuis is useful and has his strengths, but every team in baseball passed on him, twice. Not because they don’t see he’s useful, but that they’ve all got their own version of Kirkkkkk already in the system.
What we need are stars. Difference makers. In that regard, there’s Herrera, Buccera, Smith, Rosario, Molina as my top five hopefuls. It’s not nothing.