NOT A LOT OF HARVEY BEFORE PLAYOFFS
WASHINGTON — Matt Harvey plans to pitch in the postseason for the Mets, should they qualify, but how he will get from Point A to B is still in flux.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson spoke with the right-hander Monday and later outlined a plan in which Harvey would pitch here Tuesday and in the final series of the regular season against the Nationals at Citi Field the first weekend in October, if it means something. But there is gray area in between.
This much is clear: Harvey will almost certainly not make four more starts in the regular season, as the Mets originally thought he might. But if Harvey pitches in the f inal series of the regular season, Alderson does not want those innings to count toward a limit because the Mets would essentially be in a playoff situation. That proviso indicates Alderson wants Harvey to make an additional start between Tuesday and potentially the final weekend, pushing him at least to 180 innings before the playoffs.
The audible comes after Harvey’s agent, Scott Boras, citing concerns over the pitcher’s right elbow in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, questioned the organization’s plan to allow Harvey to surpass 180 innings. Harvey will enter Tuesday at 166 1/3 innings for the season.
On Saturday, Harvey wouldn’t commit to pitching in the postseason should the Mets get there, but after a severe backlash from fans, announced in The Players’ Tribune a day later his intention to take the ball in the playoffs.
Alderson said he spoke with Harvey’s surgeon, Dr. James Andrews, and anticipates discussing the situation with Boras in the next day or two.
“One thing that really hasn’t been discussed is the exact nature of [Harvey’s] availability in the postsea- son,” Alderson said before the Mets beat the Nationals 8-5.
“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, so 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. If we get there we will figure it out.”
Alderson essentially ruled out the idea of Harvey shifting to the bullpen — either in the regular season or playoffs — because of the unfamiliarity factor the pitcher would be facing.
But the Mets will continue with a six-man rotation, even when Harvey is skipped, meaning the club might need Logan Verrett for one or two starts behind Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Bartolo Colon, Jon Niese and Steven Matz.
Has the drama surrounding Harvey affected the Mets in any manner? David Wright, who spent several innings on the bench Sunday in Miami discussing the situation with Harvey, said it’s a non-issue in the clubhouse.
“I think it’s a much bigger story outside the clubhouse than it is inside this clubhouse,” Wright said. “I don’t think a lot of us follow a lot of these things.”