Steven Jakob Matz (born May 29, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, St. Louis Cardinals, and Boston Red Sox. Matz was born and raised on Long Island and played baseball for Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, New York. The Mets drafted him directly out of high school in the second round of the 2009 MLB draft, with the 72nd overall selection.
The start of Matz's professional career was delayed two years due to Tommy John surgery needed for a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his throwing elbow. Matz made his professional debut in 2012 and spent three years in the Mets' minor leagues, helping lead the Savannah Sand Gnats and Binghamton Mets to championships. He was named the Mets' Organizational Pitcher of the Year in 2014. He made his MLB debut on June 28, 2015, breaking several hitting records in his first start.
After compiling a 4–0 win–loss record and a 2.27 ERA in an injury-shortened regular season, Matz played in three 2015 postseason games, including Game 4 of the World Series against the Kansas City Royals. Matz opened 2016 with a 7–1 record and led all rookie pitchers in wins, ERA, and strikeouts through the end of May. He was named National League Rookie of the Month in May and was considered a contender for NL Rookie of the Year before his season was once again shortened due to injuries, including a bone spur that had to be surgically removed.
Matz again battled through injuries in 2017, making just 13 starts in a season that ended with surgery to address ulnar nerve irritation. He played his first 30-start season in 2018, recording a 5–11 record, 3.97 ERA, and 1.25 WHIP. In 2019, Matz had the best ERA of any Mets starting pitcher through June, and though he struggled in later starts, he finished the season at 11–10, his first winning record since 2016. Matz has been involved in several charitable efforts, including starting the charity initiative Tru 32, which honors first responders from the New York City Fire Department, New York City Police Department, and U.S. Military.
Early life Steven Matz was born on May 29, 1991, in Stony Brook, New York, the second child of Ron and Lori Matz. He has an older brother, Jonathan, and a younger sister, Jillian. Ron Matz coached a travel baseball team, and was a service manager at a Jeep dealership in West Islip, New York. Lori was an administrative employee at Comsewogue High School in Port Jefferson Station, New York. Matz and his family, as far back as his grandparents, were fans of the New York Mets. As a child, Matz attended the Nassakeag Elementary School in the Three Village Central School District.
Matz first started playing baseball in the Three Village Little League when he was 8 years old. By age 10, Matz began receiving pitching lessons from former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Neal Heaton, a fellow lefthander who also hailed from the area. He attended Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, New York, where he pitched and played first base for the school's baseball team. He played varsity since his freshman year, during which time his fastball averaged 90 miles per hour. Matz first drew attention from scouts in the New York Mets organization during a baseball showcase tournament in 2008, and their interest in him continued to grow in subsequent years. MLB scouts began attending his starts regularly during his senior season.
Matz enjoyed a high school rivalry with Marcus Stroman, a friend and future New York Mets teammate, who was a pitcher for the nearby Patchogue-Medford High School. Matz and Stroman were teammates on the same elite travel team, the Paveco Storm, for several years in junior high and high school. The two were roommates during the Area Code Games and pitched against each other several times in high school, including a notable game on April 16, 2009, which was attended by more than 50 scouts from every MLB team, and is considered one of the best games in the history of Long Island high school baseball. Matz struck out 12 and allowed one hit, leading his team to a 1–0 victory, while Stroman struck out 14 and allowed three hits, and both pitchers threw complete games. Mets scout Larry Izzo later called it "one of the best duels I've ever seen".
Matz posted a 6–1 win–loss record in his senior season, allowing two earned runs and 14 hits in 54 innings, with 74 strikeouts, and a 0.47 earned run average (ERA), helping Ward Melville win its first league title in 34 years. He also had a .408 batting average with nine doubles, six home runs, and 34 RBIs. Matz was named Newsday'''s Long Island Player of the Year, and won the Yastrzemski Award as the best high school ballplayer in Suffolk County in his senior year. Forty different NCAA Division I schools attempted to recruit Matz to their college teams.
Professional career Minor leagues The New York Mets selected Matz in the second round, with the 72nd overall selection, of the 2009 MLB draft, the same year he graduated from high school. He was the first player to be drafted directly out of Ward Melville High School. The Mets did not have a first round pick in that year's draft and did not expect Matz to drop to them in the second round. Some Mets scouts attributed his drop to his playing high school baseball in the Northeast, an area which does not traditionally produce much high-round talent. Matz, who was seeking a $1.1 million signing bonus, received interest from the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, but both ultimately passed on him, and he fell to the Mets. Matz was originally committed to attend Coastal Carolina University to play college baseball for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, but the Mets agreed to sign him with an $895,000 bonus, which was not finalized until minutes before the August 15 signing deadline for draft picks. Matz had scheduled a flight to attend his orientation at Coastal Carolina for the next day.
While pitching in an instructional league in 2010, Matz experienced elbow discomfort. A doctor diagnosed him with an 80 percent tear in his ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow, and Matz underwent Tommy John surgery on May 18, 2010. His recovery lasted two years, during which he rehabbed regularly with fellow Mets organization pitcher Jacob deGrom. The two became close friends, and began living in the same house in Port St. Lucie, Florida during every spring training there. Matz did not make his professional debut until 2012, when he pitched for the Kingsport Mets of the Rookie-level Appalachian League. He initially continued to feel elbow pain, and doctors said they were not sure if the implanted ligament in his elbow had healed, but advised him to test it simply by playing and throwing as hard as he could. Eventually, the pain disappeared. Matz compiled a 2–1 record and 1.55 ERA in 29 innings pitched with Kingsport.
Before the 2013 season, Matz worked on developing a curveball to replace his slider, at the advice of Frank Viola and Ron Romanick. That year, he pitched for the Savannah Sand Gnats of the Single–A South Atlantic League, where he had a 5–6 record and 2.62 ERA while recording 121 strikeouts in innings pitched. Matz had shutout innings and 17 strikeouts for Savannah during the playoffs. He pitched seven shutout innings in a Southern Division-clinching game against the Augusta Greenjackets on September 6, 2013, and pitched the team to the 2013 SAL championship on September 13, throwing innings against the Hagerstown Suns and striking out nine batters in the 2–0 victory.
The Mets added Matz to their 40-man roster on November 20, 2013, to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. He began the 2014 season with the St. Lucie Mets of the High–A Florida State League, where he had a 4–4 record and 2.21 ERA in innings pitched, and was named to the league's All-Star team, before he was promoted to the Binghamton Mets of the Double–A Eastern League in June. With Binghamton, Matz pitched to a 6–5 record with a 2.28 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 71 innings. He pitched the game that clinched Binghamton the Eastern League championship in 2014, striking out 11 and allowing no hits through seventh innings, as Binghamton defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 2–1 on September 12. After the 2014 season with Binghamton, the Mets named Matz their Organizational Pitcher of the Year.
Matz opened the 2015 season with the Las Vegas 51s of the Triple–A Pacific Coast League. In 15 games started for Las Vegas, Matz had a 7–4 record and 2.19 ERA, the best ERA in the league, as well as 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings, the best of any qualified starting pitcher in the Pacific Coast League. Matz also had 94 strikeouts over innings, as well as a .304 batting average. Across four seasons with five teams in his minor league career, Matz posted an overall 2.28 ERA and never allowed more than two runs in consecutive starts.
New York Mets 2015
Steven Matz was called up to the New York Mets to join a six-man pitching rotation for the 2015 season, along with Bartolo Colón, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Jon Niese, and Noah Syndergaard. He was the first Long Island high school pitcher to make his MLB debut with the Mets since Ray Searage in 1981.
Matz debuted against the Cincinnati Reds at the Mets' Citi Field on June 28, 2015. His first MLB pitch, to Brandon Phillips, was wild enough to escape the mitt of the catcher; later in that at-bat Phillips hit a home run. Nevertheless, Matz got the win, giving up two runs, five hits, and three walks, and striking out six over 110 pitches in innings, as the Mets defeated the Reds 7–2. Additionally, using a bat gifted to him by Las Vegas teammate Matt Reynolds, Matz recorded three hits as a batter and drove in four runs. His first major league at-bat was a two-run double against pitcher Josh Smith. Matz was the first pitcher in MLB history to record that many hits and RBIs in his debut game, and the 11th player at any position to do so. He was also the seventh pitcher since 1914 with three or more hits in his first game, and the first since Jason Jennings of the Colorado Rockies in 2001. Matz was the first pitcher and the 26th player in any position in the last 100 years with four RBI in his MLB debut. Additionally, he was the first Mets pitcher in franchise history to record three or more hits in his debut, and the first Met in any position to have four RBI in his first game. He was also the sixth Mets pitcher with four RBI in any game, and the first since Dwight Gooden in 1990.
In his second start, Matz pitched six scoreless innings while striking out eight and allowing two hits in a win against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had a 1.32 ERA, 14 strikeouts, and five walks over 13 innings across his first two games. Shortly afterward, Matz was placed on the disabled list for two months due to a partial tear in the latissimus muscle in his left side. Matz returned to the pitching rotation on September 6 with a no decision, but won his next two consecutive starts. Following a 5–1 win against the New York Yankees on September 18, Matz became the first player in Mets history to allow two runs or fewer in each of his first five career starts. He finished the regular season with a 4–0 record, 2.27 ERA, and 1.23 WHIP over six starts, with 34 strikeouts in innings pitched. Matz experienced back soreness caused by spasms behind his right shoulder blade near the end of the season, which forced him to miss his final regular season start and threatened to sideline him again; however, he played through it and remained on the Mets pitching rotation during the team's postseason run. He made three postseason starts: one each in the National League Division Series (NLDS), National League Championship Series (NLCS), and World Series.