Mets to call up Steven Matz, but that's the least of their worries

The Mets are heavily hinting at calling up top pitching prospect Steven Matz by the end of June. Matz, 24, has posted a 7-4 record at AAA Las Vegas and leads the Pacific Coast League with a 2.11 ERA. He also has 86 strikeouts in 85.1 innings this season.

The call-up is imminent, but it may not be at the top of the Mets’ concerns right now. The rotation, especially Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey, has performed admirably over their past several starts. Harvey has allowed just one earned run in his previous two starts and deGrom has allowed three. Somehow, both received losses against Atlanta last weekend after allowing a combined total of three earned runs.

Although Jon Niese and Bartolo Colon are not necessarily performing up to standards this season, Colon has nine wins and Niese has pitched well enough as of late for the Mets to win games. It seems more likely that Niese will move to the bullpen in a long relief role following Matz’s promotion, but dropping Colon might prove more effective to add another lefty in the mix. Niese has arguably been more effective recently and has a lower ERA (though both have ERAs higher than 4).

The greater concerns right now are obviously the offense and defense. The Mets have scored just six runs over the course of their five-game losing skid, and against fairly mediocre starting pitching (Atlanta and Toronto have notably weak rotations and bullpens). The Mets currently trail Washington by just 1.5 games, but after getting swept by the Braves over the weekend, are just half a game ahead of third place.

It’s time for a change, and it has to happen fast unless the Mets want to fall out of playoff contention early. It’s been nine years since the franchise made a playoff appearance, and they’ve had just one in the last 15 years. It’ll help to get Daniel Murphy back from the DL this week, but it won’t be enough. Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins have both mentioned that the minor league prospects aren’t quite ready for the big leagues yet, but they haven’t ruled out any options for trades.

They open against Milwaukee this Tuesday with Niese on the mound, but there’s no telling how successful they will be, even against of team of the Brewers’ low caliber. Matz is good, and he deserves a shot at the next level, but it’s not necessarily what the team should be focusing on right now.