DENVER — If Steven Matz receives a clean bill of health Monday, he could figure into the Mets’ rotation plans against the Nationals.
Manager Terry Collins still hasn’t announced his rotation alignment for the three-game series that begins Tuesday at Citi Field and likely will wait until Matz’s elbow is examined in New York following this road trip.
Matz had elbow soreness following his start against the Dodgers on Monday — the lefty said the discomfort has since subsided — and will be skipped in the rotation Saturday against the Rockies.
Monday’s scheduled day off gives Collins a variety of options for the Nationals series, with the exception of starting Jacob deGrom, whose turn in the rotation will come Sunday against the Rockies.
Noah Syndergaard would figure to start the first game of the Nationals series on five days’ rest, and Collins — provided Matz is available — then could choose among Matz, Matt Harvey and Bartolo Colon for the ensuing two starts.
Logan Verrett will return to the scene of his best career performance Saturday, when he faces the Rockies. Last August, the righty made a spot start at Coors Field to give Matt Harvey a workload break and limited the Rockies to one run over eight innings.
“He just never gave in, which you can’t do here,” Collins said Friday before the Mets fell to the Rockies, 5-2. “You’ve got to continue to make pitches, no matter if you are behind.”
Sean Gilmartin impressed the Mets on Thursday, when he pitched three innings of scoreless relief against the Dodgers in his season debut.
“He had a better slider than I remembered,” Collins said. “Great changeup obviously, moved the fastball around, but I thought his slider was much better.”
Collins on playing at Coors Field: “For me, it’s not a great place to manage. For [pitching coach] Dan Warthen, he doesn’t have much fun here. [Hitting coach] Kevin Long was the first guy at the park today.”