When Steven Matz takes the mound in 2021, it won’t be the first time he’ll be seeing James McCann behind the plate catching him.

Matz told The Post on Thursday that the new Mets backstop was instrumental in helping the left-hander stay fresh while the baseball season was still waiting to get underway due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“During the quarantine, he caught me twice a week,” Matz said of McCann. “I threw six or seven bullpens to him.”

Both Matz and McCann spend their offseasons in Nashville, and both found their way back there when spring training was interrupted in mid-March.

McCann caught bullpen sessions for both Matz and Brad Brach before the teams reconvened for Summer Camp, but the relationship McCann has built with the two goes back even further with that. The three are part of a group that work out together in Nashville in the offseason.

Matz, in particular, is excited to have McCann aboard.

“I was following [McCann’s free agency] all along, just hoping that we signed him because he’s such a great guy,” Matz told The Post. “He’s such a hard worker.”

The Mets are hoping that Matz’s familiarity with McCann will pay dividends in 2021. The 29-year-old had by far the worst season of his career in 2020, making nine appearances (six starts) in the shortened season and pitching to an 0-5 record with a 9.68 ERA in 30 2/3 innings pitched.

Matz finished the season in the bullpen, but with the departure of Michael Wacha, who signed a one-year deal with the Rays on Friday, the Long Island native hopes McCann’s guidance can help him back into the rotation.

“He’s caught a ton of my bullpens,” Matz said. “He knows how I pitch.”

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