Matt Harvey
Last year during the Matt Harvey drama over his agent’s push for the Mets to adhere to the supposed agreed upon innings limits, Harvey was put in a tough spot, and he didn’t handle it well. He certainly wasn’t helped by his Captain, David Wright. Wright responded to the drama publicly snubbing Harvey.
Harvey made a massive and inexcusable mistake by missing the last practice before the beginning of the NLDS. Wright responded to the situation by saying he was only concerned with the Mets who were at practice.
During Spring Training, when Harvey was going through some serious medical issues. The end result was Harvey was alright, and he was the subject to unnecessary ridicule. Harvey responded with a media boycott. In response to the situation, Wright cracked jokes with the media about the boycott.
Harvey just had another misstep with the media and his teammates. After another bad start, Harvey bolted leaving his teammates to face to media. It’s one thing to boycott the media after unnecessary and unfair coverage. It’s a whole other thing to not to speak to the media leaving your teammates to answer for your problems. Kevin Plawecki was left to answer the same questions he’s been answering after every Harvey start he’s caught. Unfortunately, Plawecki was seemingly the only guy left to answer questions about Harvey’s start.
Wright has now spoken up about Harvey’s most recent behavior. As he told Mike Puma of the New York Post, “A lot of us don’t agree with what he did, but we all take this game personally, and when we don’t play at the level we’re accustomed to, sometimes we make decisions we regret.”
Wright noted Harvey wasn’t accountable saying, “All of us like coming in here and talking when we have a good games, and a few of us, myself included, enjoy coming in here and talking when we don’t play well. Accountability is big and I think [Harvey] just had a bit of a lapse in judgment.”
Wright further elaborated on these comments by saying, “Him, the stature he’s built, the last thing you want . . . you want to be known as an accountable player. You want to be a stand-up guy, and this is a little blip on the radar screen. Hopefully, we all learn from it and don’t make the same mistake again.”
Wright’s comments are understandable. It’s apparent Harvey’s teammates were irked by his actions. He broke a code, and he put his teammates in a very difficult spot. There’s no excusing what Harvey did. With that said, Wright broke the code as well. He went public with his criticism of a teammate. Yes, his comments were relatively mild. However, he did call Harvey out in the media instead of keeping it in the clubhouse. Perhaps, it was because Harvey wasn’t in the clubhouse.
Through the past year, Harvey has seemed like he’s been a difficult teammate. That must be really frustrating for an old school player like Wright. It must be doubly frustrating for a player like Wright who was showed how to comport himself as a professional on and off the field by great teammates and people like Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran. It’s no wonder Wright has allowed this frustrations with Harvey to come out in the media.
It’s reminiscent of how cold Derek Jeter acted towards Alex Rodriguez. Jeter never came to A-Rod’s aide the way he did other teammates. The classic example given was how Jeter implored Yankee fans to stop booing Jason Giambi, but he wouldn’t extend the same courtesy to A-Rod. When it came to A-Rod, he suggested that even he, Derek Jeter, couldn’t control the fans reaction. Jeter had a chance to make things easier for A-Rod publicly like he once did with Giambi. For reasons we are all still not fully aware, Jeter chose to leave A-Rod out to dry.
It’s how Wright has been with Harvey over the past year. Wright hasn’t been as public with criticism of his other teammates. Perhaps it’s because the other Mets players don’t create the same attention Harvey does. Perhaps it’s because the other Mets players do not act the way Harvey does on and off the field. Whatever the case, Wright has been harder on Harvey than anyone else (with the possible exception of Jenrry Mejia). Whatever the case may be Wright has reacted towards Harvey the way Jeter reacted towards A-Rod.
It’s pretty ironic. Harvey grew up wanting to be Jeter. Instead he’s A-Rod, and he’s receiving the Jeter treatment.
Yesterday into this morning, the sky was falling after another bad start by Matt Harvey and his refusal to speak with the media. The Mets lost a game to the Nationals and dropped a game in the standings. The world was coming to an end. With that in the backdrop, David Wright came up to bat in the first, and did this:
That was all the help Steven Matz needed. He utterly and completely dominated the Nationals in winning his seventh straight start. At one point, he retired 16 in a row. He only had two 2-0 accounts. He got a huge out by retiring Bryce Harper as the tying run in the eight. His final line was eight innings, four hits, no runs, one walk, and seven strikeouts.
Matz has lowered his ERA from a gawdy 37.80 in his first start to 2.36. Since that nightmare first start, he has gone 7-0 with a 1.13 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP. He’s clearly the early favorite in the Rookie of the Year voting. He’s also due consideration for the All Star Game and even the Cy Young Award.
Matz wasn’t the only young Met who had a big day. Matt Reynolds got his first big league hit in the fifth. He scored his first big league run in the seventh off of a Rene Rivera RBI single. The inning was set up by a Daniel Murphy error on what should have been an inning ending double play off the bat of Eric Campbell. The ball went right through Murphy’s wickets and the Mets lived to put up another run on the board. Reynolds would finish the day 1-3 with a run and a walk. Rivera would finish the game 1-3 with an RBI. He would also throw out Michael Taylor in the third.
The Nationals would rally in the ninth putting the first two on against Jeurys Familia. Famila bore down and got the next three outs to preserve the 2-0 win. Familia is now a perfect 16/16 in save attempts this year.
Overall, this was just a terrific win by the Mets. They came into Washington and took 2/3 from the Nationals. They evened the season series at 3-3. They’re now only a half game behind the Nationals for the division. The Mets are in for a dog fight for the division, and they have showed they’re up for the fight. This is going to be a fun run this year.
Game Notes: Reynolds was pressed into action as Asdrubal Cabrera left the game with a stiff back after the top of the first. Cabrera was technically in the game despite not having had an at bat or taking the field by his being in the starting lineup.
Its astounding how much 2016 is paralleling 2015. This year, like last year, 46 games into the season, they trail the Nationals in the division. Interestingly enough, this is not where the parallels end.
Catcher
Last year and this year, Travis d’Arnaud had a significant injury forcing him to miss a significant period of time. This pressed Kevin Plawecki into assuming the starting catcher’s job, and he struggled. However, Plawecki kept on catching because his backup was a good defensive poor hitting catcher. Last year was Anthony Recker. This year it’s Rene Rivera.
Back Issues
Last year, the Mets faced the prospect of not knowing when or if David Wright could return due to his back problems. As a result, Eric Campbell played many more games than the Mets ever anticipated he would. The same thing is happening now as a result of Lucas Duda‘s stress fracture in his lower back.
Minor Leaguers Not Ready for the Majors
With the rash injuries last year, the Mets trotted out the likes of Daniel Muno and Darrell Ceciliani to try to fill in the gaps. It didn’t work. This year the Mets have pressed Matt Reynolds and Ty Kelly into action. Reynolds and Kelly are having similar difficulties.
Rotation Issues
Last year, Jon Niese and Dillon Gee were having the worst years of their careers thereby putting the pressure on the other starters. The Mets were stuck in a holding pattern about making a change as the obvious replacement, Noah Syndergaard, still needed a little more time. This year it is Matt Harvey struggling while the obvious replacement in the rotation, Zack Wheeler, still needs more time to get ready to pitch in the majors.
Colon Dependability
At this point last year, Bartolo Colon was 7-3 with a 4.82 ERA and a 1.20 This year Colon is 4-3 with a 3.44 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. This year and last year the Mets have been able to count on Colon to take the ball every fifth day and give them a chance to win.
Mid 30’s Corner Outfielder
Through May 25th last year, Michael Cuddyer was hitting .250/.328/.372. This year Curtis Granderson is hitting .204/.304/.413. Like Cuddyer last year, the Mets are relying heavily on Granderson, and unfortunately, they are not getting the production they need from them.
Second Year Starter Stepping Up
Last year, Jacob deGrom went from Rookie of the Year to All Star. He emerged as the ace of the staff. This year that honor belongs to Syndergaard. Syndergaard has been dominating on the mound like deGrom did last year. He’s a likely All Star, and he’s quickly become the staff’s ace. Honorable mention should go to Steven Matz here as well.
Call for the AA Prospect to Get Called Up
Last year with a rash of injuries and offensive ineptitude, Mets fans shouted from the rooftops that Michael Conforto should be called up to the majors from AA. This year the fans have begun the same with Dominic Smith due to Duda’s injury and Campbell playing there everyday.
Jeurys Familia
Last year, Famila was as dominant as anyone at the end of the game. He started the year a perfect 13/13 in save chances. This year Familia is back to his dominant form. He’s a perfect 16/16 in save chances. As in 2015, Familia is going to slam the door shut.
The Two Team Race
Last year the Braves were the upstarts that faltered. This year will be the Phillies. However, when the dust clears, this is really a two team race between the Mets and the Nationals for the NL East.
Just remember that no matter how bad things got last year, the Mets still won the division by seven games. This year the Mets have a much better team across the board. We may sometimes forget this when the Mets slump or have a couple of injuries. However, this is a much better Mets team that can win the division. This is still a World Series contender. That’s the overriding lesson from 2015.
Last night, Matt Harvey had another tough game. In his prior nine starts, he faced the music and answered the media’s questions. Last night, he didn’t. Neither did Dan Warthen. Instead, the ENTIRE ORGANIZATION left Kevin Plawecki to answer questions about Harvey’s night.
Couple of things here. First, the questions Plawecki fielded were no different than what he’s received the other times he’s caught Harvey. Second, I have not seen one tough question to him about his own poor play. Third, where was the Captain, David Wright, through all of this?
No, Wright did not skip out on answering questions. Still, he’s the Captain. He’s the face of the franchise. It’s his responsibility to go help out a young player put in that seemingly difficult situation.
In my opinion, these are all fair and legitimate questions. Honestly, none of that really matters at the end of the day. I don’t even care that much about what has seemingly been an issue between Harvey and the media. These issues were resurfaced all last night into today. They were articulated well in Mike Vaccaro’s New York Post column. Agree or disagree with the column, there’s an underlying issue being brought to the surface here.
As a Mets fan, my issue isn’t Plawecki having to answer questions when Harvey isn’t around. It isn’t with Harvey or Warthen ducking the media. It isn’t with Wright shrinking from his responsibilities as Captain. It isn’t even with the apparent issues with Harvey’s and the media’s seemingly difficult relationship.
No, my issue is how this all affects the team. Does Harvey’s leaving early cause a rift in the clubhouse? Does it create a rift between him and his teammates? Will this finally be the seminal moment where Harvey turns it all around?
At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is the lasting impact last night had on both Harvey and the Mets. Depending on how the season goes, this will either be a moment we all specifically reference time and again, or it will be nothing more than a blip on the radar screen. Here’s hoping it’s the latter.
There’s no defending Matt Harvey for this one. He had yet another terrible start. Rather than face the media, he left the stadium to let his teammates try to answer questions about something neither the Mets or Harvey had answers for all season long.
Harvey is a professional who needs to know better. He shouldn’t leave his catcher, Kevin Plawecki standing there to try to answer questions better amswered by Matt Harvey or Dan Warthen.
According to Adam Rubin, Dan Warthen was unavailable to answer questions from the media. In Harvey’s absence, Warthen would’ve been the individual who was best suited to answer questions about Harvey’s struggles. Being the pitching coach, he should know the ins and outs of Harvey’s struggles. If it’s a mechanical issue, what’s the issue? Is it fatigue? Is it mental? What did Harvey say to you to convince you he should’ve made this start?
These are all valid questions left unanswered by both Harvey and Warthen. Instead, both left the Mets struggling young catcher to answer questions neither have had an answer to all year. Harvey deserves to be chastised for abandoning his teammates. Warthen deserves the same blame.
Any hopes of this being a Happy Harvey Day was shattered when Daniel Murphy launched a fifth inning two run homerun into the upper deck off of Matt Harvey making it a 5-1 game. Murphy really pimped that homerun too.
Murph has left the building, ladies and gentlemen. #Nats 5, Mets 1. pic.twitter.com/6qD4pNtccy
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 25, 2016
It was the third homerun hit against Harvey on the night. Given Harvey’s pattern this year, it should come as no surprise that the first two homeruns were back-to-back shots by Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon. Overall, Harvey had another career worst night in what had been a nightmare of a season:
Elias: Matt Harvey surrendered a career-high 20 bases tonight.
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinMedia) May 25, 2016
Prior to 2016, Harvey had never allowed 2 or more runs in 5 straight games.
This year, he's allowed 2 or more runs in all 10 of his starts.— Ed Leyro (@Studi_Metsimus) May 25, 2016
For the night, Harvey pitched five innings allowing eight hits, five earned, and two walks with a career worst one strikeout. He has an MLB worst 6.08 ERA.
Unfortunately, Harvey didn’t get much help. The Mets 6-8 batters were Eric Campbell–Kevin Plawecki–Ty Kelly. Kelly was making his debut with David Wright getting a scheduled day off. It’s hard to question Collins’ handling of Wright so far this year because it has been superb. With that said, if it was an either/or situation, it’s surprising he wouldn’t trot out his best possible lineup for a Harvey start; last night’s Wright homerun notwithstanding.
With this lineup, it’s not much of a surprise that Stephen Strasburg had a good night. He pitched 6.2 innings allowing four hits, two earned, and two walks with 11 strikeouts. It should be noted that Strasburg found himself in the same shoes last year that Harvey finds himself now. Strasburg finished last year going 6-2 with a 1.90 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. This year he’s a sure fire All Star and an early Cy Young candidate with an 8-0 record with a 2.79 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.
The Mets offense was an Asdrubal Cabrera homerun fourth inning homerun and a short lived rally in the seventh. The Mets had a first and third with no outs with the aforementioned Campbell-Plawecki-Kelly triumvirate due up. Campbell got an RBI ground out making it 5-2. Plawecki walked, and Kelly struck out. In his big league debut, Kelly was 0-4 with three strikeouts. Juan Lagares then pinch hit for Hansel Robles (who was great again), and he struck out against Felipe Rivero ending the rally.
Any hopes that the Mets would come back were dashed by the bullpen. In consecutive innings Antonio Bastardo and Jim Henderson allowed solo homeruns. It snapped the Mets’ bullpens 16.2 inning scoreless inning streak.
Campbell hit a one-handed two run homerun in the ninth (yes you read that right) to make it 7-4. That would be the final score. It wasn’t really that close, but it was just one game, albeit a game that leaves the Mets once again looking for answers across the board. The Mets play another one tomorrow.
Due to Wilmer Flores’ injury and David Wright’s spinal stenosis, Eric Campbell has played in 21 games so far this year. Believe it or not, that’s the least amount of games by anyone on the team who is not on the DL.
It may not feel that way because Campbell had played much more frequently. While he appeared in 10 games in April, he did not start one game. In May, he’s already played 11 games, and he has started in nine of them. Here’s the strangest thing of all with Campbell – he’s actually playing fairly well.
In May, where Campbell has received the bulk of his playing time, he’s hitting .231/.375/.269. Yes, his batting average and slugging percentage is quite low, but as evidenced by his OBP, Campbell is getting on base. Also, he’s playing good defense at first and third base. We have already seen him make diving stops to stop extra base hits. Overall, Campbell is playing very well for the guy at the end of your bench.
That’s the issue. Campbell isn’t at the end of the bench anymore.
No, with Flores on the DL, Campbell has overtaken Flores’ super utility role. Campbell has also outperformed Flores. Before Flores went on the DL, he was hitting a paltry .180/.255/.280. Flores has also struggled with his throws from second and third. Accordingly, Campbell has been a better bench option than Flores.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, it should be noted Campbell is out performing some of the regulars. In May, Campbell’s .375 OBP is tops amongst infielders and second on the team to Yoenis Cespedes. He’s out slugging Neil Walker . In sum, right now, Campbell is not the Mets worst option either in the field or at the plate.
This goes a long way to explaining the Mets troubles scoring runs. The Mets have averaged 2.74 runs per game in May. Opponents have out scored them by 18 runs. The Mets are 8-11 so far this month. Therefore, while there are problems like with Matt Harvey’s struggles on the mound and Jacob deGrom’s velocity, the biggest problem right now is the struggling Mets offense that isn’t getting on base enough and isn’t scoring runs.
The Mets starters need to get better . . . at least better than Eric Campbell as there should never be no point in the season where you can say Campbell has been one of the Mets better offensive players.
After another tough start, Matt Harvey finds himself standing in Stephen Strasburg’s shoes, or cleats if you prefer. Scott Boras agreed as much in his interview with Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports saying, “We’re dealing with unknowns about why [Harvey] isn’t locating. All I can tell you is that with Tommy John guys there are times they don’t locate. Take a look at Strasburg last year.”
In 2014, Stephen Strasburg threw 200+ innings in the first time in his career and for the first time since his Tommy John surgery. When the 2015 season started, he struggled mightily.
In his first 13 starts, he was 5-5 with a 5.16 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. Batters were hitting .289/.342/.439 against him. The Nationals pulled Strasburg from a July 3rd start after he threw 55 pitches over 3.2 innings. He was put on the DL due to discomfort in his side. It was his second DL trip in what was quickly becoming a lost year for the former number one overall pick and presumed Nationals ace.
Many questioned whether Strasburg could still fulfill his pre-Tommy John potential. His agent, Boras, put it best saying, “If I gave you those numbers, you would have to say the pitcher is in the dumps. His career path is altered. He’s changed. He’s someone who is in deep trouble and he’s not the same.” Boras then added this caveat, “The numbers I just gave you are of a pitcher who just signed a $175 million contract.” How did that happen?
It’s because after Strasburg’s stint on the DL, he came back a much different pitcher. He finished the year going 6-2 with a 1.90 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. Batters were only hitting .179/.206/.306 against him. He’s come out this year and been the same dominating pitcher. So far, he’s 7-0 with a 2.80 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Batters are hitting .233/.278/.317 against him. He’s back in the discussion with Max Scherzer as the Nationals ace.
Keeping this in mind, it was fitting that Strasburg faced Harvey on Thursday. It shone a light on how a pitcher’s return from Tommy John is not linear.
Harvey had a good year last year going 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA and a 1.019 WHIP. He had a memorable Game Five of the World Series where he seemingly re-established himself as not only the Mets ace, but also the best pitcher in the division. As Boras pointed out, “You go back a year and who’s who. I’m sitting on the phone (then) and no one is saying anything to me about Matt Harvey’s velocity and dominance. Now the roles are reversed, and the reality of it is there are unknowns in going through the Tommy John scenario.”
Like Strasburg in 2015, Harvey has faced a cold reality this year. Harvey has struggled mightily in 2016. He’s 3-6 with a 5.77 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. According to Brooks Baseball, he’s gone from throwing 96+ MPH last year to under 95 MPH this year. Boras, however, doesn’t believe Harvey’s velocity is an issue saying, “His velo is there. It is definitely there. When his velo is there, how is the league doing? The league is hitting .208 off him when he throws a 94-mphfastball and above.”
As for last night, Boras said, “Last night he was throwing 94. But the reality of it is when he mislocates . . . last night what did (Daniel) Murphy hit out of the ballpark? A curveball. He hung a curveball.”
The question the lingers is why is this happening. Boras, who represents both Harvey and Strasburg, doesn’t seem to know. He said, “This Tommy John carries with it unknowns.” He went on to elaborate, “Why are there unknowns? Because we had a pitcher go from zero to (216) innings after a 17-month rehab.”
If Harvey truly has his velocity, the question remains as to what the issue is with him. Everyone has a theory. One is Harvey’s conditioning or lack thereof. Boras didn’t lend any credence to that saying, “This guy was at our fitness institute for six weeks. And you know what? His lower half is one of the strongest in baseball of any pitcher. This is not conditioning, believe me.”
If it’s not conditioning, and it’s not velocity, then what is it? At this point, no one can honestly pinpoint the reason for Harvey’s struggles. Right now, the Mets don’t have any answers. While the Mets are still looking for answers, the Mets are going to send him back out there.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsmerizedonline.com
After all the Mets fans hysteria after Matt Harvey struggled against the Nationals, it was easy to forget there was a game to be played tonight.
Like most of May, the Mets offense seemed to forget as well. For the first five innings, the Mets offense could only muster one run with three hits and a walk against Wily Peralta. This is the same Peralta who came into tonight’s game with a 2-4 record, 7.30 ERA, and a 1.992 WHIP. It didn’t matter as the Mets offense lately has been worse than Peralta . . . at least until the sixth inning.
Asdrubal Cabrera lead off the inning with a single, and he scored when Michael Conforto hit one into what used to be the Party City Deck.
Watch @mconforto8 crush his 7th home run of the season. #Mets #LGM https://t.co/HkyhuTNCjThttps://t.co/VX3VszasbF
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 21, 2016
Mets led 3-2.
There was a chance for more, but well, no one is quite sure what happened. Yoenis Cespedes singled, and he took off on a 3-2 pitch to Neil Walker. Walker took the pitch right down the middle for strike three, and Cespedes didn’t even bother sliding into second. Former Met Carlos Torres came on, and he got the Brewers out of the inning.
The three runs were enough for Steven Matz, who was terrific. He pitched seven innings allowing three hits, two earned, and no walks with eight strikeouts. He only made one mistake, which was hit for a two run homer in the first by Chris Carter, who is tied with Cespedes for the league lead in homers. Matz’s start was all the more incredible when you consider he had been shut down with elbow inflammation.
However, it looks like he’s back on track, and the Mets are back on track as well.
Game Notes: Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Torres got their NL Championship rings before the game. Eric Campbell started at third as David Wright had a scheduled day off. Rene Rivera had a nice game with an RBI ground out in the second, and he threw out another basestealer:
René Rivera is so good.
His CS% is 34.4% … 2nd-best among active catchers (250 games). Only Yadier Molina is better
— Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) May 21, 2016