ST. LOUIS — The Mets were extremely disappointed there will be no Bartolo Colon reunion now that Big Bart has taken his aged talents to the Twins and the American League.
That’s life. Move forward, not backward.
As for Steven Matz, he is hitting his stride now that he has basically one full season of work under his belt for his career.
Yes, there is much wrong in the Mets’ world, many question marks about every facet of the future. But if good friends Matz and Jacob deGrom can continue to progress, the Mets have a terrific 1-2, lefty-righty punch left over from the Omar Minaya days.
Matz’s next start on Sunday will be the 34th of his career. In the best of worlds, manager Terry Collins was hoping for 30-plus starts from most of his rotation this season. Only deGrom might still get there. But Matz has made tremendous strides this season in his approach and in results.
“I feel a lot more comfortable going out there, I’m figuring out how to attack hitters and get quick outs,’’ Matz (2-1, 2.12) told The Post on Friday at Busch Stadium, on a strange night where deGrom managed to hang on for seven innings to get the win, a 6-5 victory over the Cardinals and ace Carlos Martinez, despite allowing four solo home runs.
How strange?
DeGrom (9-3) is the first pitcher to give up four or more homers and still beat the Cardinals since Robin Roberts of Phillies did it way back on June 22, 1955, a 9-6 win. Preacher Roe of the Brooklyn Dodgers also did it Sept. 1, 1953 in a 12-5 win.
For deGrom, it’s about competing. That is a lesson the Mets’ pitching staff must remember.
“Jake and I talk a lot about pitching,’’ Matz said. “We’ll look at video together and he’ll show me something he’s doing. He does not get complacent.’’
Matz and deGrom are old school in that they believe in running every day to get stronger. Forget the heavy-duty weight lifting.
“It’s as much psychological as anything else,’’ Matz said. “Running is uncomfortable, so it’s something you have to push through. It gets your heart pumping.’’
“We go out there and kind of push each other,’’ deGrom said. “It’s definitely good.’’
“I’m learning strikeouts are fun sometimes,’’ Matz said, “But I think when you try to strike people out, pitch counts are higher. My command is a little bit better and I’ve been a little bit smarter with my pitching and I’ve been able to get some quicker outs.’’
Matz focused his winter workouts on “just being a better athlete,’’ he said.
“I’m not going to power lift,” he added. “But I do try to get stronger in all areas, a lot of running, sprint work, things like that.’’
Matz has pitched 17 consecutive scoreless innings dating to June 22, two innings shy of his career best. He threw seven scoreless innings in each of his past two starts. The last Mets hurler to pitch at least seven innings without allowing a run in three straight starts was R.A. Dickey in 2012.
Matz has worked at least six innings in a career-best 10 consecutive starts dating to July 24, 2016. In day games, Matz is 7-2 with a 1.46 ERA.
The 39-45 Mets know they are up against it.
“We’re trying to get back in the race,’’ Collins said. “The development side has got to take a back seat right now, we need to get back in this race and that’s by putting our best guys out there.’’
Matz pitching well makes a big difference.
“I think he’s starting to get it,’’ Collins said. “He’s understanding what he’s got to do and what it takes. His approach has been tremendous. You talk about running, he runs, and he runs hard.’’
In deGrom and Matz, Collins has No. 1 and No. 2.
“That’s what we thought we might have, along with No. 3, 4 and 5,’’ Collins said.
Noah Syndergaard is still nowhere near ready. Colon spurned the Mets. But Matz finally has a full season of starts on his record. There is progress. That’s where the focus should be for the Mets.