Mets say they have a plan for how to use Matt Harvey down the stretch
Matt Harvey proclaimed in an article for The Players’ Tribune that went up Sunday that he “will pitch in the playoffs,” for the New York Mets.
How exactly is that going to happen with all the talk of a doctor’s imposed limit of a 180 innings?
Well, we’ve got a better idea now, though we still don’t know for sure. And that’s OK, because neither do the Mets.
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Mets general manager Sandy Alderson confirmed Monday that Harvey won’t exceed the 180 innings range, and that the team has plan to make sure he’s available to start in the postseason. However, the plan has yet to be finalized because the Mets need to make sure it works for Harvey and his agent, Scott Boras.
So Harvey is full-go for the playoffs then? Not so fast. How many starts he’ll be able to make depends on how much he ends up pitching down the stretch and how his arm feels.
”How he’s used in the postseason is really going to be a function of how he’s gotten through the six months of the regular season,” Alderson said. ”I can’t sit here and say he’s going to be available throughout the entire playoffs, because we don’t know how he will feel and what all of the considerations are at that time.”
Having already thrown 166 1/3 innings in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, Harvey is in position to make three starts in the regular season. He’s scheduled to take the mound for the Mets on Tuesday against the Washington Nationals. From there? New York’s already gone to a six-man rotation, but even then Harvey would have to make four more starts after Tuesday. It appears that Logan Verrett will step in for Harvey at least a couple times in September.
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All of this is far from ideal for everyone involved and it’s a complicated situation. The pressure and attention will increase if the Mets slip up and allow the Nationals to cut their lead in the NL East to one or two games, because Harvey can only pitch in the playoffs if New York gets there. We’ll see how circumstances affect the Harvey plan going forward.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
