New York Mets

          Morning Briefing: What next?

          NEW YORK --

          FIRST PITCH: Thursday's off-day brought bad news for the New York Mets. Rookie left-hander Steven Matz was diagnosed with a partially torn lat on his left side and will refrain from all throwing for three weeks. He received platelet-rich-plasma therapy at the Hospital for Special Surgery on Thursday.

          Matz had complained about stiffness in the area after his major league debut, but the Mets let him proceed with Sunday's start at Dodger Stadium, when he threw six scoreless innings.

          Jonathon Niese on an extra day of rest reportedly will handle Sunday's first-half finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He originally had not been scheduled to pitch in the series.

          Noah Syndergaard (3-4, 3.38 ERA) opposes right-hander Chase Anderson (4-2, 3.71) in Friday's 7:10 p.m. ET series opener.

          Michael Cuddyer's availability for the weekend also is an open question. He has not started six of the past eight games because of a balky left knee. Cuddyer was due to be examined on the off-day at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.

          One piece of good news on the health front: Howie Rose returns to the WOR broadcast booth a week after a scare forced the team charter to make an emergency landing in Detroit en route from New York to Los Angeles.

          Read the Mets-Diamondbacks series preview here.

          FRIDAY'S NEWS REPORTS:

          • Read more on Matz's prognosis in the Post, Daily News, Times, Journal, Newsday, Record and at NJ.com and MLB.com.

          • Matt Harvey had an active Thursday on Instagram. According to the Daily News, Harvey golfed on Donald Trump's Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point and wrote: “Off with some TEAMMATES! Thanks @realdonaldtrump @donaldjtrumpjr @trumpferrypoint for a great day on the new course.” The post soon was deleted. Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, is embroiled in controversy over his comments about Mexican immigrants seeking to illegally enter the United States. Also on Instagram, Harvey brushed back fans who incorrectly believed he did not take the team flight back to New York, Jonathan Lehman writes in the Post. Read more at NJ.com.

          • Dan Barry in the New York Times writes an in-depth profile of Bartolo Colon. “From childhood, he was very strong,” Colon's father, Miguel Valerio Colon, tells Barry. “He was capable of pulping up to 1,000 crates of coffee beans in a day.” Writes Barry: "Sometimes, while transporting bags of beans for his father's produce business, young Bartolo would park his pet donkey, Pancho, beside a sloping lot that served as a baseball field and play a few innings with other children, using balls made of cloth."

          • Merandy Gonzalez tossed a seven-inning no-hitter for the Gulf Coast League Mets. Cory Vaughn delivered a tiebreaking three-run double in the opener and Logan Verrett tossed five scoreless innings in the nightcap as Las Vegas swept a doubleheader from Salt Lake. Jared King's RBI double lifted Binghamton to a 2-1 win against New Britain. Stefan Sabal contributed a go-ahead two-run double and St. Lucie beat Charlotte, 7-2. Tucker Tharp's RBI double was the lone run in Brooklyn's 1-0, rain-shortened win against Hudson Valley. Read the full minor league recap here.

          • Eno Sarris at fangraphs.com salutes pitching coach Dan Warthen's teaching of a hard slider to his young pupils.

          • Columnist Mike Vaccaro in the Post suggests manager Terry Collins pull names out of a hat to determine the lineup. Vaccaro did just that and came up with: Juan Lagares, Kevin Plawecki, Ruben Tejada, Curtis Granderson, Syndergaard, Lucas Duda, Wilmer Flores, Cuddyer (or the healthy left fielder) and Daniel Murphy.

          • On the trade market, GM Sandy Alderson tells the Daily News: “We'll see what shakes out, but definitely the activity will pick up in the next week.”

          • Duda has one homer since May 29 and is 2-for-29 with 15 strikeouts in July. Read more on his struggles in the Journal and Post.

          • Triple-A shortstop Matt Reynolds, who had been unable to play the field since June 25 because of an elbow injury, officially was placed on the DL by the Pacific Coast League club.

          • Plawecki partially credits his surge at the plate to feeling better. Sinus difficulty had been making his head cloudy while he played. "I think a lot of it has to do with just feeling better with my head," Plawecki told Mike Vorkunov at NJ.com. "I attribute a lot of it to that, to be honest. It's good to feel like myself again."

          • Mets VP Paul DePodesta tells Ken Davidoff in the Post that high school draft picks just do not put up good numbers with the Mets because they play in daunting ballparks at least until they reach Double-A Binghamton.

          • Jeurys Familia ranks last among five candidates in the vote for the final NL All-Star slot. So it looks like Familia will not make it to Cincinnati, unless as an injury replacement. Read more in Newsday and the Post.

          • Lloyd Carroll in the Queens Chronicle catches up with borough product Mike Baxter.

          • From the bloggers … Met Report believes Matz's injury could derail the Mets trading Niese.

          BIRTHDAYS: Larry Burright was born on this date in 1937.

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          YOU'RE UP: Are the Mets snakebitten?