Mets starting pitcher prospect Steven Matz will make his MLB debut Sunday against the Reds, general manager Sandy Alderson announced Friday.
Alderson also said the team will go to a six-man rotation for the "foreseeable future," as Matz will join a rotation that features Bartolo Colon, Jonathon Niese, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom.
"They're on board," Mets manager Terry Collins said, per NJ.com. "As Sandy alluded to, certainly this is in their best interest, a few of them. At the time we did it before things were moving pretty good, guys were pitching pretty well. We went back, we changed it, couple guys didn't pitch all that good even on regular rest.
"They understand we're going to give this a shot, we're going to take a good strong look at it. It's to benefit the whole organization, basically, so that we look up and everybody is pitching. We're not pushing guys back, we're not skipping, guys are out there and competing. That's what they want to do."
Matz's arrival means Niese will get bumped from Sunday to Tuesday against the Cubs.
Matz, who is considered a top-100 prospect by Baseball America (No. 33) and MLB.com (No. 66), went 7-4 with a 2.19 ERA at Triple-A Las Vegas. He totaled 94 strikeouts in 90 1/3 innings.
Since returning from Tommy John surgery in 2012, the left-hander is 24-20 with a 2.29 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 365 2/3 innings. He is striking out 9.4 batters per nine innings in his career.