2:45pm: Matz will placed on the disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 15, with tightness in his left shoulder, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

AUG. 22, 1:09pm: Matz has been diagnosed with a “mild” strain and some inflammation of the rotator cuff in his left shoulder, but doctors found no structural damage, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. There’s no word yet on whether he’ll require a stint on the disabled list, however, and the Mets have yet to formally announce the test results.

AUG. 19: Mets left-hander Steven Matz has been scratched from tonight’s start due to discomfort in his left shoulder, as Newsday’s Marc Carig writesThe New York Post’s Mike Puma writes that he’s likely to be examined on Monday in New York.

Matz stated that what he’s experiencing is “just discomfort” and said he’s not too worried about the issue, but there’s obviously at least some cause for concern for both Matz and the team. Matz, of course, has been pitching through a bone spur in his left elbow, and while Carig writes that neither the team nor Citi Field’s Trackman software has detected any mechanical changes to his delivery due to the spur, there’s still no immediate way of knowing whether the elbow ailment has contributed to his newfound shoulder troubles. Matz first felt the discomfort when throwing off flat ground earlier this week and didn’t feel improvement when throwing prior to yesterday’s game.

Right-hander Seth Lugo will start in Matz’s place tonight. The 26-year-old has quite been good in his first taste of the Majors this season, albeit in a limited sample. In 17 innings, Lugo has a 2.65 ERA and a 16-to-6 K/BB ratio with a 47.6 percent ground-ball rate. He could potentially step into the rotation if a replacement for Matz is needed for more than one start. Alternative options in Triple-A include Gabriel Ynoa, Robert Gsellman and Sean Gilmartin. None of the bunch owns particularly exciting numbers in Triple-A this season, though the Las Vegas home of the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate is a notoriously hitter-friendly environment.

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