Mets injury news: Steven Matz resumes throwing

Steven Matz threw a baseball on Monday for the first time since being shut down due to a strained lat muscle on his left side.
Matz last pitched on July 5 in Los Angeles in what was his second start after being promoted from Triple-A Las Vegas.
When Matz was shut down, it was for a period of three weeks, so he was cleared less than a week after the earliest possible date.
So far this season for the Mets, Matz has posted a 1.32 ERA and 0.88 WHIP while striking out 14 in 13.2 innings pitched.
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Prior to Matz’s injury, the Mets were operating with a six-man rotation, but it was termed ‘six-man lite’ by GM Sandy Alderson, meaning the team was planning on skipping certain starters occasionally and reworking things around scheduled off-days.
When Matz returns, the Mets may again use the ‘six-man lite’ rotation, which could help shave the innings of Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard — both on innings limits and both expected to remain active through the end of the regular season and any potential postseason run.
As far as the injury to Matz, it was a bit of a blessing in disguise.
Matz will probably have an innings limit of between 180 and 185 innings this season, and the time missed will likely result in roughly 50 innings being shaved off what his total would’ve been had he remained active throughout the entire season. So far this season, between Triple-A and the majors, Matz has thrown 104 innings.
It’s not clear when Matz will return, but two or three weeks seems like a fair estimate as long as he doesn’t have any setbacks.