For all my issues with Terry Collins, he’s shown himself to be a great presence in the clubhouse. He certainly showed himself to be that today with Matt Harvey missing the workout:

Here’s TC’s version of the Harvey Episode: pic.twitter.com/69xkGdDhhg

— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) October 6, 2015

He tried to quash it. He tried to put an end to the story. As he said, “Its over. Done. End of story. Still pitching Game 3.”  He said it wasn’t a big deal. That’s how a leader handles it. 

Let’s see how David Wright handles his issues with Harvey. Let’s first visit the innings limit drama. On the day of the press conference, here’s how Wright treated Harvey:

Yup, Wright snubbed him for all to see exacerbating the story.  After the snub was reported everywhere, Wright needed to change course, and he did:

David Wright had "a four-inning conversation" with Harvey yesterday in the dugout, per Collins. Mets consider the clubhouse aspect resolved.

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 7, 2015

That’s right. He had a four inning conversation in the dugout for all to see so everyone can praise him and forget his snub. The Mets then started winning, and Harvey announced he would pitch in the playoffs. All was forgotten until Harvey screwed up today. Wright’s response?

“I’m concerned with the guys who are here.”  Are you kidding me?  He could’ve squashed it. He could’ve said a million other things. He’s turning this into a Jeter/A-Rod type of situation. Instead, he gave the impression there’s a clubhouse problem. Collins is then answering questions about Harvey’s perception:

TC likes to say “perception is reality.” Here’s what he said about Harvey in that regard: pic.twitter.com/uBvk3U8vx9

— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) October 6, 2015

Yes, this story is all Harvey’s fault. However, where was the Captain, the team leader, to step in and put an end to all of it?  He was adding fuel to the fire while making sure everyone was at their assigned lunch seats. 

Did that moment help Noah Syndergaard?  Probably. However, I’m not sure how it helped the rookie to have that story leaked in Spring Training. All that happened there was Wright got to look like the Captain, and Thor got smacked down by everyone. 

I don’t mean to beat up on Wright. He’s been a great Met, and I commend him for fighting to come back this year. However, that makes him a great player and a winner. It doesn’t make him a team leader, whether or not he is the Captain.