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When it comes to the prospect of making the playoffs for a third straight year, the Mets will once again depend heavily on their rotation. On that front, here’s some troubling news from Mike Puma of the New York Post regarding 25-year-old lefty Steven Matz:

Steven Matz has been scratched from his scheduled exhibition start for the Mets on Monday because of “irritation” in his left elbow, according to general manager Sandy Alderson.

The lefty has been examined by team doctors and assured there is no structural damage in the elbow, according to Alderson, but his status to begin the season is unclear.

And here’s Matz striking a rather unconcerned tone about his shutdown ... 

Obviously, the good news is that there’s presently no structural damage. That said, elbow trouble is elbow trouble, especially when you’re talking about a pitcher of Matz’s recent history. Speaking of which, over the last two seasons Matz has missed time due to lat, elbow, and shoulder injuries, and late last season he underwent surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow. Obviously, how he bounces back from this setback of sorts will be telling. 

The Mets last season claimed a wild-card berth despite getting a total of just 56 starts from Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, and Matz. As well, they used 12 different starting pitchers on the year. So they made the playoffs despite some upheaval in the rotation. On the other hand, they no longer have Bartolo Colon, who was such a valuable stabilizer last season. That is to say, the Mets might not be able to withstand as many pitching injuries this season. In light of that, consider this a bad start.