Matz is trying to avoid using his slider this season in an effort to stay healthy, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports.
He wants to avoid strain on his left elbow by ditching an offering that requires plenty of it -- by some studies, the slider is the pitch most responsible for those types of issues, as noted by Ackert. Matz has relied on his fastballs (four- and two-seam/sinker), changeup and curveball on his way to a 3.60 ERA in his first three starts of the year. The southpaw's extensive injury history, which includes Tommy John surgery and a bone spur in his pitching elbow that was removed this past winter, is causing him to take new precautions. Matz gutted through a messy outing Thursday to spin a quality start. He should remain an option for many mixed-league fantasy lineups, though it'd help if he can regain the strikeout promise he's shown in previous years -- he has only 14 in 20 innings so far in 2017.