Matz could be used as the primary pitcher behind an opener this season, Mike Puma of The New York Post reports.

EDGE Analysis

The Mets haven't yet embraced some of the new-fangled pitching strategies that are spreading around the league, so at this point the team having anything beyond five traditional starting pitchers is just speculative. Matz struggled in the first inning through the early part of last season, however, and if those issues return it could spur the organization to get creative, assuming he breaks camp in the rotation. For his part, the southpaw didn't seem terribly enthusiastic about the prospect. "It's definitely intriguing," Matz said, when asked about the idea of an opener. "But for me personally it's just my whole career I have never done that, so it's different. I am used to starting, warming up for the game, long tossing all that stuff. I think that [opener] stuff is more different. I don't know how they do it. We've never done it really in the big leagues with the Mets, so I don't know how it is, I don't know what it's like so I can't comment on it." Matz has had a solid start to his spring, allowing one run and posting a 2:0 K:BB through three innings, but he'll need to keep pitching well over the rest of the spring to secure a rotation spot.