Good news, Mets fans: Steven Matz's left elbow is okay, as Marc Carig reported. Matz was skipped on Saturday in Colorado because he experienced elbow soreness after his previous start, which went well otherwise. He saw a doctor today, and it turns out his ligament is "perfectly fine," as Jon Heyman put it. Matz is not expected to start against the Washington Nationals in the three-game series that begins on Tuesday night at Citi Field.
After a very bad outing in his first start of the season, Matz settled in very nicely. In six starts in total, he has a 2.86 ERA and 2.67 FIP in 34.2 innings of work with 9.09 strikeouts and 2.08 walks per nine innings. If he stays healthy, the 24-year-old should be a candidate for the National League's Rookie of the Year award, as he skirted eclipsing the rookie eligibility threshold last year, mostly because he missed significant time with a lat injury.