Given his struggles as a starter of late, there have been growing calls to make Matt Harvey the closer for the Mets.  Given how Harvey has pitched this season and how the Mets  bullpen has performed, this may not be just an absurd fan overreaction to the struggles of a pitcher returning from season ending surgery last year to alleviate the effects of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS).  In fact, you could argue the TOS could be part of the reasons for Harvey’s struggles, and why he needs to be moved to the bullpen.

The biggest case you can make for Harvey moving to the bullpen is his numbers.  This season, Harvey is 4-3 with a 5.43 ERA, 1.484 WHIP, and a 6.8 K/9.  It’s scary to think about, but Harvey is actually putting up numbers worse than the numbers he posted last year when everyone was wondering what was wrong with Harvey.  The surgery that was supposed to fix Harvey hasn’t tangentially resulted in better numbers.  Instead of getting stronger and better as the seasons has progressed, Harvey is regressing.  In Harvey’s first four starts, he was 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA, 0.947 WHIP, and a 6.0 K/9 while averaging 6.1 innings per start.  In his seven starts since, Harvey is 2-3 with a 7.25 ERA, 1.861 WHIP, and a 7.3 K/9.

Normally, you would take someone like this out of the rotation, but there was no one to put in Harvey’s stead.  However, with Steven Matz and Seth Lugo coming off the Disabled List, and Robert Gsellman starting to return to form, the Mets have the avenue to move Harvey to the bullpen if they were so inclined.  Putting aside for the moment whether they would be willing to do so, or whatever interference may be ran by Scott Boras, the question is whether such a move would make sense for the Mets.

Let’s start with the positive.  According to Brooks Baseball, Harvey certainly has the velocity to be an elite bullpen arm.  After the surgeries, he is averaging just under 95 MPH with his fastball.  If given the opportunity to air it out for one or two innings, we could see him once again touch the high 90s he did back in 2013 and 2015.  Even if he can’t, Harvey’s current velocity should be more than sufficient.  A move to the bullpen would also allow Harvey to focus more on his two or three best pitches to get batters out.

And despite everything that has gone on, Harvey still has that grit and determination.  Despite diminished stuff, Harvey bears down when he needs to most.  Batters are hitting just .132 off Harvey this year with runners in scoring position.  No one has gotten a hit off of Harvey this season with a runner in scoring position and no outs.  This should come as no surprise.  Harvey has always wanted to be the guy on the mound in those pressure situations, and he has consistently delivered in those situations.  Certainly, Harvey has the stuff and the swagger to be a dominant late inning reliever.

Unfortunately, there is more evidence to suggest the bullpen is the wrong place for Harvey.  Batters leading off an inning are hitting .327/.439/.709 off of Harvey.  In high leverage situations, batters are hitting .273/.368/.545 off of Harvey.  In Harvey’s first 25 pitches of a game, batters are hitting .241/.353/.534 off of him.  More than any of this, Harvey has been more than susceptible to the long ball.  In all but one of his starts, Harvey has allowed a home run, and he has allowed 1.9 homers per nine innings.

The biggest reason for all of these struggles is Harvey is having difficulty putting batters away.  His strikeouts are way down this season as batters are either fouling off his pitches, or they are better able to take a pitch they would have felt inclined to swing at two or more years ago.  In fact, Harvey has a career high 4.7 BB/9. 

Overall, Harvey isn’t putting guys away, he’s walking them, and he’s giving up a lot more home runs. That’s not a recipe for success in the bullpen. 

And yet, the Mets need to do something. Maybe emulating post-Tommy John surgery John Smoltz is the way to go. For those that forget, Smoltz was suffering from the same issues Harvey is now. He found himself in the bullpen, became a dominant reliever, and he would return to the rotation to be a good starter once again.  

Given Harvey’s early season struggles, it might be time to try something different. It might be time to at least try him in the bullpen for at least the short term just to try to help him find himself. If a Hall of Famer like Smoltz accepted the move, everyone else should be willing as well. Harvey included.