Steven Matz | |||
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![]() Matz pitching in the 2015 National League Division Series
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New York Mets – No. 32 | |||
Starting Pitcher | |||
Born: Stony Brook, New York |
May 29, 1991 |||
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MLB debut | |||
June 28, 2015, for the New York Mets | |||
MLB statistics (through 2016 season) |
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Win–loss record | 13–8 | ||
Earned run average | 3.16 | ||
Strikeouts | 163 | ||
WHIP | 1.21 | ||
Teams | |||
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Career highlights and awards | |||
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Steven Jakob Matz (born May 29, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut on June 28, 2015.
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 younger sister, Jillian. Ron Matz coached a travel baseball team and is a service manager at a Jeep dealership in West Islip. Lori is an administrative employee at Comsewogue High School in Port Jefferson Station, New York. Matz and his family, as far back as his grandparents, are devout fans of the New York Mets. Matz was raised as a non-practicing Lutheran though he joined the non-denominational Calvary Chapel while a minor leaguer.
Matz began receiving pitching lessons at age 10, from former MLB pitcher Neal Heaton. He attended Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, New York, and pitched and played first base for the school's baseball team. In high school, he enjoyed a rivalry with nearby Patchogue-Medford High School pitcher, friend and current major leaguer Marcus Stroman (Stroman also took pitching lessons from Neal Heaton for several years). 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 multiple times in high school. Despite not receiving attention from college or professional scouts until June of his junior year, Matz was named Newsday's Long Island Player of the Year and was given the Yastrzemski Award as the best high school ballplayer in Suffolk County in his senior year.