Mets scratch Matz (shoulder) for Thursday; Walker still out

New York Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz had a setback with his left shoulder and will no longer start Thursday versus the Marlins.

The Mets’ Steven Matz will not come off the DL on Thursday as scheduled. He felt OK after throwing off the mound Sunday, but his shoulder barked while tossing Monday and he did not attempt to throw off the mound.

There is no structural damage in Matz’s shoulder, Collins said, just an impingement in his left rotator cuff. “It’s just a little irritation”. “I don’t quite feel like I can let it go yet”.

Collins acknowledged that he’s anxious about Matz’s status and when-or if-he’ll rejoin the Mets rotation in September.

“I believe so. It’s a day to day thing”. “He wants to wait one more day, which I totally get”. More impressive, though, is how unfazed they are by the moment, specifically Gsellman and Lugo, who are going through this for the first time. “I talked to them and the training staff, and that was the decision, just give it some more rest and let it calm down”.

Walker, who can become a free agent after the World Series, has matched his career high with 23 home runs in his first season with the Mets since they acquired him from Pittsburgh in a trade. The 30-year-old has been excellent in NY, slashing.282/.347/.476 over 458 plate appearances, and seemed primed to receive and decline a qualifying offer en route to a nice free agent payday. “The moves we made a year ago (at the trade deadline) to get our help, we traded a lot of very, very good young pitching away”.

There is no good injury news these days for the Mets, just varying degrees of bad fortune.

Miami CF Marcell Ozuna is 7-for-44 without a home run in his last 11 games. He struck out as a pinch-hitter Monday night.

Manager Terry Collins indicated there’s a chance Matz may not return this year, although the rookie lefty expects he will be back in the rotation at some point. “I think it helps you, having a little bit of pressure”.

Matz is still confident he will pitch again this year. “It’s not a surgery-type deal”. He carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his last start August 14 against the Padres.

The Mets have expressed confidence that Matz’s elbow issue has not resulted in him altering his mechanics and caused the shoulder problem.

A mild left shoulder strain placed Matz on the disabled list on August 22, retroactive to August 15, and he hasn’t been able to get past it. Robert Gsellman will remain in the rotation to face Washington on Friday.

“He needs more rest”.

“We need everybody to contribute – we don’t want one or two or three people, we just want the whole team, everybody who comes up here to contribute”, said Jose Reyes, who had four hits and two runs scored. “We’re hoping that in a couple days we can throw him over the weekend and see if he can be ready next week”.

NOTES: The Mets recalled RHP Logan Verrett from Triple-A Las Vegas and optioned RHP Rafael Montero to Double-A Binghamton.