Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Steven Matz Can Transform Toronto's Rotation
Luke Voit couldn’t reach the high fastball, leaning forward in the box as he waived through Steven Matz’s sixth pitch. As the Toronto lefty fell off the mound, he closed his fist and exhaled.
Matz wasn’t perfect Tuesday, but he was effective. The Blue Jays starter missed with eight of his first 18 pitches but struck out the side to start the ballgame. He finished with a season-high 10 strikeouts, pitched into the seventh inning, and allowed only six New York baserunners. With the resurgence of Robbie Ray and the consistency of Hyun Jin Ryu, an effective Steven Matz could transform the Blue Jay rotation. On Tuesday night he showed how.
“If your starters give you a chance like that, like they have been," Manager Charlie Montoyo said. "We’re gonna win many games.”
Ahead of the 2016 season, Steven Matz was Baseball America's 13th ranked prospect. He's posted two seasons of sub-4 ERA and was a key part of one the best rotations in baseball. He has shown the ability to be a mid-rotation arm, maybe more, on a World Series contender, but the lows have been low — as low as 9.68 ERA and 14 homers in six 2020 starts.
This year, we have seen both sides of the lefty. Matz allowed 14 runs in 13.2 innings from April 28 to May 8 but has held the opposition to one or fewer runs in half his starts. On Tuesday, Montoyo could tell his starter was on, he said. Matz was mixing four pitches equally, rebounding from missed spots or dropped calls, and allowing only two Yankee hitters to register exit velocities over 100 MPH.
An uptick in strikeouts allows Matz to work out of jams, but it's the lefty's ability to miss barrels that has elevated his season. After allowing a gaudy 49% hard-hit rate in 2020, he's brought the metric down near his career norm this year, 38.6%.
On his 80th pitch of the game, Matz walked off the rubber before the pitch crossed home plate. It was a diving outside changeup and Brett Gardner swung over it — Matz’s ninth strikeout of the game. Gardner smacked the bat into his palm and dropped a choice expletive as he returned to the Yankee dugout.
After five scoreless innings, Blue Jays Manager Charlie Montoyo had faith in Matz to come back out for the sixth to face Voit, Gleyber Torres, and Aaron Judge — the top of New York’s order. In 14 pitches he completed the frame and earned another inning of work. The Blue Jays need Matz to join Ryu and Ray as stable rotation pieces who can effectively work late into games to relieve a battered bullpen.
“My main thing was being efficient and getting deep into a game," Matz said. "You know when you’re pitching in the seventh inning your team has a chance to win.”
Borderline ball calls cost Matz the opportunity to end his start with a clean seven, but he finished with his best outing of the season regardless. His floor looms, with bad starts sure to flare up, but appearances like Tuesday further solidify Matz as a rotation answer, not another question mark.
