Woody Allen has been largely attributed with the quote, “80% of life is just showing up.”  If the other 20% you are providing is a 5.14 ERA in six starts, you better make sure you are showing up.  According to various reports, Matt Harvey isn’t even doing that.  Whether it was Saturday, the workout right before the 2015 NLDS, or any of the supposedly unreported occasions this happened, there’s no excuse for not showing up.

Yes, Harvey has already answered the bell twice this season by making starts on short notice.  Sure, he was the guy that has twice pitched through injury (UCL, TOS) to try to help the team.  He’s always the guy that wants the ball, and more importantly, he wants the ball when the chips are down.  He had great starts in the 2015 NLCS and World Series.  He was the guy that initially gave the Mets hope when he burst on the scene in 2013.

None of those are an excuse.  You have to be there.  It doesn’t even matter if the Mets let him get away with it for far too long.  Harvey is a 28 year old professional.  He doesn’t need to be told to be there.

Harvey has been a great pitcher, and once he figures things out, he can be one once again.  However, for him to get back to that point, we have to know he is fully invested.  If he is not showing up to the ballpark, how do we know that’s the case.  Even if he had a migraine, as debilitating as those can be, he has to find a way to let the team know in a timely fashion.  He has a phone and an agent for that.  Again, if you don’t show enough responsibility to advise the team about your inability to show up to the ballpark, how do we know he is being responsible enough to make sure he is ready for all of his starts?  We don’t.

Now, it is possible the Mets blew one incident out of proportion, and Harvey did what he was supposed to do.  If that is the case, it is emblematic of what has been increasingly been a toxic relationship between the Mets and Harvey.  No one is free from blame in that.  The shame of it is it never should have gotten to this point.  Harvey should have been an ace for a decade.  The Mets should have protected his arm.  Harvey should have been more dedicated to the team.

Neither has happened, and now the Mets are a dysfunctional mess yet again.