Mets to skip Matt Harvey’s next start in effort to manage workload
It’s no secret that the New York Mets have been considering ways to lessen the workload on their young starters down the stretch.
The possibility of having each starter skip a start was widely regarded as their most viable option. Apparently, the team agrees with that assessment, as they’ve officially announced plans to skip Matt Harvey’s scheduled start on Sunday in Denver.
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All parties involved in the decision, which include Harvey himself, seem to agree that it’s best to get this over with now if it’s going to happen. In fact, those were manager Terry Collins’ exact words when explaning his reasoning.
As for Harvey, via the New York Post:
“The last thing you want to do is keep putting it off or waiting to hear when it’s going to happen,” Harvey said Friday at Coors Field.
“The innings are adding up — we have kind of been discussing that the whole time. I told them I was completely on board with whatever they wanted to do. I just kind of preferred it would be sooner rather than later.”
Like pulling a bandaid, it’s best to just do it and get it over with.
Or is it?
The Mets enter play Friday with a four-game lead over the Washington Nationals in the NL East with 40 games left to play. It’s not a comfortable lead by any stretch, but they obviously feel it gives them enough breathing room to let Harvey step back.
Mets manager Terry Collins says the team also intends to skip Noah Syndergaard relatively soon, though he’s still scheduled to make his start against the Phillies on Tuesday.
In Harvey’s case in particular, the Mets are concerned about overextending him during the regular season and then potentially relying on him heavily during the postseason. Harvey is currently on pace to throw around 210 innings. That’s a number many workhorse pitchers and fans alike will shrug at, but for a guy coming off Tommy John surgery it’s easy to understand the concern.
Harvey figures to make another six or seven very important starts down the stretch, depending on how New York sets up its rotation. Starts that will have a lot riding on every pitch. Those are stressful innings, and the looming possibility of a deep postseason run could tack on another four or five impact starts. It adds up fast, but eliminating a start now — especially one at Coors Field — seems like a wise sacrifice, if not a wise gamble internally.
And yes, it is a gamble as well. If the Mets lose ground leading up to Sunday’s game, it will heighten anxiety around the fan base. If they go on to lose Sunday’s game and/or whichever game Syndergaard skips, they run the risk of those games costing them in the standings as well. Those are the consequences they must weigh and the questions they must be willing to answer if push comes to shove.
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At this point, the Mets see the well being of Harvey and Syndergaard as the far more important issue. In the long run, that could benefit from that decision, though given the nature of pitchers and injuries there’s no way of telling how much if any impact this will have. In the short term, it creates some fodder for some great debating.
By the way, right-hander Logan Verrett will make Sunday’s start for Harvey. He has a 3.57 ERA in 16 appearances (nine starts) at Triple A this season. A lot will be riding on his shoulders, as he could quickly squash the debate and many concerns with a good outing.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
