Matt Harvey
I’m well on the record defending Matt Harvey. Overall, in my opinion, unless you’ve been in his shoes, how can you properly judge him for ignoring a doctor’s advice and risk everything? Personally, I know my father and I ignored doctor’s advice and went to work. We’re both idiots, and we’re both on Harvey’s side.
However, there is a person with real credibility on the issue, who has taken umbridge with Harvey. That’s Curt Schilling, who said:
This entire episode with Harvey and innings and pitch counts is a joke. It's now the story instead of this teams run up to a WS.
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) September 21, 2015
Because of a well earned suspension and the rise of Jessica Mendoza, Schilling took to Twitter with his comments rather than being able to offer them on Sunday Night Baseball. It’s a shame because Schilling saying these comments on live TV would’ve been interesting, especially since he’s got credibility on the issue:
The “Bloody Sock Game.” Schilling risked his career to get the Red Sox to the World Series. The man literally had his tendon sewn into place so he could pitch. Then, he did it again in the World Series. If anyone can talk about risking your career for your team, it’s Schilling. I’m not going to parse out that Schilling did it in the playoffs after getting his money while Harvey still has a career to consider. The fact is Schilling did it.
Instead, we get John Kruk criticizing Harvey. The same Kruk who retired mid-game due to injuries. He got his hit, was taken out of the game, and he drove home before the game was finished.
So while I disagree with Schilling’s take, I respect his opinion. It would’ve made the broadcast last night better.
The narrative after last night’s game was Matt Harvey was soft for following doctor’s advice. The other part of the narrative was David Wright is the anti-Harvey because he’s playing through a back injury.
Let’s start with Wright. He didn’t begin his rehab until doctors signed off on it. Furthermore, spinal stenosis is a degenerative and permanent condition. The Mets are making accommodations for Wright’s injury by limiting him to playing only four games in a row. People call Wright tough, but they fail to realize he only had two options: play or retire and forfeit approximately $87 million dollars.
Harvey, who is coming back from major Tommy John surgery, is labeled as soft. This ignores everything that has happened. He was told he shouldn’t go past 180 innings. The team wanted to limit him to less than 180 innings so he could pitch in the playoffs. The team abandoned the six man rotation on three different occasions due to the sixth starter’s injury or ineffectiveness. However, the Mets made sure to publicize Harvey’s disdain for the six man rotation to make it seem like the six man rotation was abandoned on his orders.
Harvey suffered from arm fatigue and decreased velocity (major warning signs). He left a game with severe dehydration. He pitched through all of this in his first year after Tommy John surgery, and he’s not tough? That’s insane. He doesn’t want to win? Then why is he working to come up with a modified schedule so he can pitch unfettered in the playoffs?
That doesn’t stop Mets fans from blowing up on Harvey went he only goes five innings against the Yankees, but there was no peep when Wright sat against the Marlins in a loss two weeks ago. Seriously, in a game the Mets lost on a walk off hit, Wright didn’t so much as pinch hit. Why the double standard?
I don’t know why the Mets can make accommodations for Wright and not Harvey. I don’t know why people want Harvey to risk his career pitching in meaningless September games when he’s clearly gearing up for a postseason run. I don’t know why no one respects the fact that he’s making under a million, and the Mets have made no financial incentives to ignore his doctor’s advice and pitch. Wright has $87 million reasons to play. Harvey had hundreds of millions reasons not to pitch, and yet, he’s still out there pitching.
Overall, Harvey and Wright are tough and want to win. That should be the narrative. Any other narrative purposefully ignores the facts.
Tonight, Matt Harvey was brilliant for five innings. He allowed one hit and a walk in conjunction with seven strikeouts. As October is more important than Septrmber 20th, especially with a 6.5 game lead in the division, Harvey was lifted.
The Mets then blew the lead. Twitter blew up. Everyone acted like it was Harvey and Boras that was the reason the Mets lost. It wasn’t even close to the reason. Here are some of the bigger reasons why the Mets lost:
- Mets leave the bases loaded in the first.
- Mets only score one run off CC Sabathia, who came into the game with a 4.93 ERA.
- Mets only mustered five hits and struck out seven times against Sabathia.
- David Wright dropping a throw from Hansel Robles after an awful Brett Gardner bunt, which set up a big inning.
- Robles emulating Jon Niese after the Wright misplay.
- Mets committing four errors.
- Terry Collins pitching Eric O’Flaherty.
- O’Flaherty being O’Flaherty (allowing all three lefty batters to get on base).
- Erik Goeddel walking in one of the batters he inherited from O’Flaherty.
- The Mets bullpen in total allowed eleven runs.
The Mets lost this game because their bullpen was terrible. The Mets lost because their offense was terrible. They didn’t lose the game because Harvey was amazing for five innings.
So when the blame game starts tonight, let’s start with where it belongs, which is everyone but Harvey.
Even after all the trades, Mets fans knew/believed that the Mets would only go as far as their young pitching would take them. Mr he main focus was on the Matt Harvey–Jacob deGrom 1-2 punch.
The problem is the rest of the NL has pretty good 1-2 punches in their own right, and that’s before you take Harvey’s innings limits into account. Let’s see who the NL playoff teams have:
Dodgers
Cardinals
Cubs
Pirates
With these matchups, you’d imagine the NL playoffs will be all about pitching. You can imagine the Mets being anywhere from up 2-0 to down 0-2. This is what makes Noah Syndergaard so important. He can give the Mets a lead in the series, put the other team on the brink, or get the Mets back in a series.
Thor has answered every call thus far in a stellar rookie season. His games against the Nationals are much bigger than what he’ll experience this afternoon. Although, I suspect the crowd may have a little more juice. I’ll have faith in him no matter what happens today.
October is going to become Hammer Time!
This is a huge start for Steven Matz. As a local kid from Long Island, it’s his opportunity to stand up and proclaim, this is the Mets town. It’s time for a man named Steven to stand up and declare:
In all seriousness, Matz has something more important to stake his claim – a postseason roster spot. Right now the postseason rotation is still in flux. It seems the only one assured of a spot is Jacob deGrom.
Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard both have innings limit issues. Jon Niese has been utterly ineffective. Bartolo Colon has beaten up on the NL East and sub-.500 teams. Logan Verrett is nothing more than a spot starter. There’s an opening for Matz, and frankly a left handed starter, with the Dodgers coming up in the NLDS.
The Dodgers feature a number of big left handed bats with Adrian Gonzalez, Joc Pederson, Andre Ethier, and Chase Utley, who you know is chomping at the bit to beat the Mets again. It would be great if the Mets could throw a lefty starter out there to neutralize those bats. It’s all the more important without a lefty in the bullpen. Niese has shown it shouldn’t be him.
This will be the last Mets opponent over .500 until the last series of the season. The Yankees are in a dog fight in the AL East and Wild Card. They need the series a lot more than the Mets do. Most likely, he will face Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, and Greg Bird. It’s a good primer.
Matz needs to step up. He needs to go out there tonight and pitch like the ace the Mets fans think he is. I want to see his grandfather celebrating all game long. If we see it, it means Matz is pitching well. It means he’s securing a postseason start. It means the Mets will have a better chance of winning the NLDS.
It may lead further towards the Mets taking back New York. It may see mad, but it may become Steven’s Island.
With the hand-wringing over Matt Harvey, I noted that he’s not Billy Chapel. He’s not an aging veteran seeking that one last chance at glory. No, he’s Ricky Vaughn.
Ricky Vaughn came bursting on the scene armed with a high 90s fastball. He was there to strike you out. He was a fiery competitor who only cared about domination and winning. That was Matt Harvey in 2013. The man put the team on his back every five days. He was there just to beat you, and he was as intense as they come:
Unfortunately, Harvey needed Tommy John surgery. Like Ricky Vaughn in Major League II, Harvey figured out he now had a career to consider. Instead of a publicist, he has Scott Boras trying to guide his career. Eventually, the fans turned on Ricky Vaughn.
It seems like Mets fans have turned on Matt Harvey. I guess we’ll really find out how much on Sunday. However, before you boo him, remember how the story ends:
When his team needed him most, he was given the ball. The fans loved him. The manager made a ponderous decision. The fallen star pitched his team to the World Series. If you’re a Mets fan, you can see all of this happening.
There’s greatness in Harvey. Never forget that. I know he will be there when he’s needed, and he’s going to deliver.
One of the things I like to do is to go see a Broadway show during previews and right before Opening Night. By that time, many of the kinks are worked out, but the actors are still trying things to see if it works. Even better, the tickets are at a discount.
Tonight was preview night at Citi Field. The Mets had BOGO tickets. Terry Collins tried some stuff out like batting Lucas Duda seventh against a righty. He started Michael Cuddyer in RF against the lefty over Curtis Granderson. He only let Logan Verrett go five innings in a game tied at one despite throwing under 70 pitches.
Collins would bring in Sean Gilmartin in the sixth. Was this to see both potential long men, or was this a preview for a future Matt Harvey rumored half start. Gilmartin would show his rust giving up two runs to the Marlins. However, like the Broadway previews, the stars brought it and brought down the house.
Yoenis Cespedes opened the scoring in the third with a bomb to left field. After the Mets fell behind, Travis d’Arnaud hit a game tying two run homer. Finally, the biggest star of them all, David Wright, hit the go-ahead ground rule double scoring the pinch running Eric Young, Jr. (who also stole a base). Jeurys Familia came on in the ninth and saved the 4-3 win.
We can expect a lot more of this over the next month. These are the types of things you can and should do with a large division lead in September. Because the Mets are so good, they’re going to win a lot of those games.
I can’t wait for when this show makes its October debut.
Much of the 2015 season has been a second chance for some of their veterans to have a chance to be in a pennant race again. David Wright, Daniel Murphy, and Jon Niese were all there for the 2008 collapse. In many ways, this year is their redemption.
Dillon Gee wasn’t there in 2008. He first came up in 2010. He’s only known losing despite having a 40-37 career record. Last year, he was the Opening Day starter. This year he was briefly in the rotation due to Zack Wheeler needing Tommy John surgery. The Mets would then jerk him around and designate him for assignment. They even gave his number to Logan Verrett. I don’t know what Gee said or did, but he’s been disregarded by the organization.
It’s a shame because they really did need a sixth starter. With the Mets wanting to get their pitchers rest, and Matt Harvey needing to be preserved for the playoffs, the Mets sure could use another starter. They’ve disregarded Gee, who wasn’t even a September call up when the AAA season ended.
He probably could’ve helped this team. He suffered through years of losing, and just when the Mets get good again, he’s tossed by the wayside. If the Mets can find starts for Jon Niese, they could find starts for Gee. With all this, he remains a class act:
WOW, I don't know what else to say. This is the best team on earth!!!! Something special happening there. Awesome pickups! #mets
— Dillon Gee (@DillonGee35) September 10, 2015
Despite his misfortunes, he’s still cheering on the Mets. This is the type of guy you want in your organization. This is the type of player you want to stick around for a while. Whether it was one ir two starts in September or some mop up duty, it would’ve been nice to see him get some innings.
I wish the Mets called him up, but they didn’t. This means he’s as good as gone, and he can’t enjoy the victories he’s been waiting for since 2010. As he’s been magnanimous, I will wish him the best of luck wherever he winds up.
With all the hysteria following Yoenis Cespedes, and the recent tarring and feathering of Matt Harvey, it’s easy to forget there are other players on the Mets who are making major contributions. Chief among those players is Travis d’Arnaud.
When the Mets obtained him, he had a reputation of being a good hitting catcher. While his career had a rough start, he fixed his swing in AAA, and he’s been raking ever since. This year he’s hitting .287/.364/.540. These are tremendous numbers for any position, let alone for a catcher.
Speaking of catching, d’Arnaud continues to help his pitching staff. He remains one of the best in the game at pitch framing. For all the talk about innings limits and pitch counts, this ability cannot be ignored. It’s a tremendous skill not only to get a strike called a strike, but also to get a ball called a strike. It was one of the hallmarks of those 90’s Braves teams.
The knock on him has always been that he’s injury prone, and he’s done nothing to dispel that this year with two long DL stints. However, the main fear with him was concussions, and he hasn’t had one this year. Furthermore, it looks like his weakness can turn out to be his strength this year. He’s only played 48 out of a possible 139 games. This means he’ll be fresh for October.
When he’s played d’Arnaud has been tremendous. If not for Cespedes, we might be calling him d’Man. There’s nothing else you could ask him to do right now that he’s not doing, except maybe choosing the right wine to go with the post-game meal. If you think about it, with his play at both sides of the plate, he deserves that moniker.
d’Arnaud is d’Man.