Steven Matz's Stats, Metrics, Game Logs, Projections & Rankings

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Steven Matz (back) has been transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list on Friday. This news comes just two days away from Matz being eligible to come off the injured list. He recently had a setback with a strained back, so it looks like the southpaw is going to need a little more time. The 33-year-old probably won't be back in the rotation until late July at the earliest. Matz wasn't pitching well before the injury, so fantasy managers should be able to find a better option. It's worth noting that right-hander Gordon Graceffo has been recalled. He could be an option to fill in for Matz, but fantasy managers can use a wait-and-see approach here.

St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Steven Matz (back) has suffered a setback in his rehab process and will be shut down for at least two weeks. He will essentially be forced to restart his throwing progression. The veteran woke up feeling tightness after his latest rehab start in which he tossed three-plus scoreless innings on June 16. Matz has been on the 15-day injured list with low back soreness and has not appeared with the Cards since April 30. It's been a difficult season from both a health and performance standpoint for the 33-year-old who owns a 6.18 ERA across six big-league starts, striking out just 13.4% of the hitters he has faced. Add in an 8.7% BB% and Matz's 4.7% K-BB% is a career-low, albeit in a small sample size. He remains off the fantasy radar for the time being.

St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Steven Matz (back) played catch off the mound at Busch Stadium on Friday, according to manager Oliver Marmol. Matz will throw at a much higher intensity on Monday. Matz is dealing with a protruding disc in his lower back and was placed on the 15-day injured list a week ago with a lower-back strain. Given the severity of the 32-year-old veteran southpaw's injury, fantasy managers in deeper leagues shouldn't be expecting Matz to return when he's eligible to come off the IL. In addition to Matz's pretty serious injury, he wasn't good in his six starts before getting hurt, going 1-2 with a 6.18 ERA and 1.73 WHIP with only 17 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings. Matz probably isn't worth holding onto in shallow-mixed fantasy leagues at this point.