Steven Matz Landed In Perfect Spot
As previously noted, Steven Matz has defined himself as the old crafty lefty. He’s a back end of the rotation starter who pitches to contact.
As such, he’s going to succeed or fail largely based on the defense behind him. Considering the New York Mets defense behind him was a sick joke, he faltered.
It was so bad, he went to a bad defensive Toronto Blue Jays team, and it seemed like he was a completely different pitcher. Truth be told, the bad defense is a significant improvement over incompetent defense, and so, he thrived.
This is exactly why St. Louis was the prefect landing spot for Matz. His four year $44 million deal with the Cardinals benefits him and that team.
This past year the Cardinals were the first team to boast five Gold Glovers in Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Tommy Edman, Tyler O’Neil, and Harrison Bader. Notably, two-thirds of the Cardinals outfield was golden.
Remember, Matz is a pitcher who yields batted balls in the air roughly 55% of the time. The Cardinals 29 DRS in the outfield helps him immensely.
Fact is, the Cardinals have long been a defense forward thinking organization. Their entire team had an 81 DRS, good for second best in the majors.
Combine this with Mike Maddux being one of the best pitching coaches in the game, and you have the absolute best place for Matz. There was literally no better spot, and he’s going to thrive there unlike anywhere else.
That’s not to say he wouldn’t have thrived with the Mets. We know he can because we saw it. If he came back to the Mets to work with Jeremy Hefner, their vastly developing and improving analytics department, and their improved defense, Matz would’ve done well.
Matz just wouldn’t have done as well with the Mets as he will with the Cardinals. Truth be told, Matz needed a better situation, and the Mets needed a better pitcher. If the Mets do what they need to do this offseason, this is best for all involved.
I agree with this and generally think you’ve been on a roll lately.
I think Sandy is the #1 problem with the Mets. Needs to go. Across 10 years — yes, there was a brief gap — I don’t think he’s done anything good for the organization.
He’s not a disaster; he’s just hopelessly muddled, mediocrity across the board. He’s done to the Mets what he did to the Padres. Nothing. A shambles.
Never built a strong farm system; never developed up-and-coming management core; never built an identity for the team, absolutely no vision whatsoever; never signs players to proactive extensions; annually misreads the marketplace; and so on. He kicks the can down the road. Year and year. Again, not incompetent. He’s generally professional (though, clearly, out-of-touch with modern times: Callaway, Porter, etc.). But 10 years later, this team is a mess.
Bringing back Matz would have done little for the Mets, a decent #5 guy and a LHP. Zero fire in the belly. Zero intensity. Zero competitiveness. Sounds like a Met. Sandy likes his old, trusty, dusty Rolodex. For new thinking, for a step forward, this codger needs to go.
He’s the worst thing that happened to the Mets in the past 10 years and only now are people slowly, slowly beginning to catch on.
Jimmy P