Mets promote Steven Matz to majors

The Mets are promoting left-hander Steven Matz to the major-leagues, a source has confirmed to SB Nation. The promotion was first reported this afternoon by FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, though unusual silence from the Mets led to some speculation that a trade may be in the works.

Matz, 24, will join a six-man rotation for the Mets that includes fellow young pitchers Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom and is anchored by veterans Bartolo Colon and Jon Niese. Niese has been rumored in trade talks all season along with Dillon Gee, though Gee recently cleared outright waivers and is currently stashed at Triple-A Las Vegas. With Matz a part of the Mets' long-term rotation plans, they could look to move Niese to a team looking for pitching help in advance of the trade deadline.

In fifteen appearances (fourteen starts) with Las Vegas so far this year, Matz has posted an excellent 2.19 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. The New York native was the Mets' second-round pick in the 2009 draft before undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2010, delaying his professional debut until 2012. He rose up the prospect rankings in every one of his minor-league seasons, and was ranked as the 33rd best prospect in baseball by Baseball America before the season.

With Matz now officially in the mix, the Mets have an extremely talented group of starters that includes Matz, Harvey, Syndergaard, deGrom, and injured righty Zack Wheeler.