Knight moves
Mets need Harvey to succeed in playoffs
ATLANTA — No matter the innings, the spotlight will be on Matt Harvey right through the Mets’ postseason.
How long of an innings leash will Harvey have once he makes it past the regular season? When will he be used?
Here is your Matt Harvey Playoff Primer and like everything with the Dark Knight, it is subject to change.
A lot depends on where the first two games of the NLDS are played.
If the Dodgers hang onto the homefield advantage, they will host Games 1 and 2 at Dodger Stadium and Game 5, if necessary.
If that is the case, it appears Harvey will start Game 2 at Dodger Stadium with Jacob deGrom earning Game 1 honors. That would put deGrom in line to start a winnertakeall Game 5.
If the Mets gain homefield advantage, there is the possibility Harvey will start Game 3, the first game at Dodger Stadium. Noah Syndergaard, who has pitched much better at home, figures to get Game 2 if it is at Citi Field.
Before the inningslimit issues were raised by Harvey’s agent Scott Boras, Harvey figured to start Game 1. But that plan has changed.
General manager Sandy Alderson has yet to have his meeting with Boras to discuss the 180innings limit. Harvey, in his first season back after Tommy John surgery, is sitting on 171 ²/₃ in nings and will next pitch Sunday in the Subway Series. Harvey last pitched Tuesday so that will mean 11 days of rest.
The Harvey Plan has been everchanging, but one thing is certain: if the Dark Knight wants to regain true Dark Knight of Gotham status with the fans, he is going to have to make the most of that postseason start and the Mets have to put him in the best position to succeed.
“One of the big questions is how much we are going to pitch Harvey,’’ manager Terry Collins said Sunday, a day the Mets won a 10inning slopfest, 107, over the Braves, sweeping the fourgame series and winning their seventh straight.
The Mets improved to 8261 and this marks their first winning season since 2008.
On Sunday, the Harvey Regular Season Plan changed yet again.
“We have to get him on the mound a little more consistently,’’ Collins said. “Every 12 days is not a good scenario. We certainly are trying to work out a plan for that. We’ve got a lot of questions in the next 20 days. We have to figure out how to get our pitchers in line and keep them healthy, yet not overdo it.’’ That means half outings, so to speak, for Harvey, to keep his innings limited.
As far as Harvey is concerned, Collins insisted, “We’re all on the same page.’’ And what page is that? “We need to get him out there a little more consistently,’’ Collins said. “We’ve got to make sure this guy is ready to pitch.
“If we get in the postseason we have to have Matt Harvey ready to pitch, I don’t need him to have 15 days off. So we’ve got to come up with a plan that is going to get him out there a little bit more.
“We’ve talked to Matt enough times and he is on board with what we are thinking of doing.’’ That is a good thing. Baseball has not changed, it’s all about pitching, especially in the postseason.
The top five pitching teams in the NL are the five teams likely heading to the playoffs — the Cardinals (2.88 ERA), Pirates (3.18), Mets (3.35), Dodgers (3.43) and Cubs (3.53).
That’s the way this game works.
“We continue to juggle the rotation, what’s going to happen,’’ Collins said. “We are trying to figure out a spot to skip deGrom, if we can. We talked about trying to push [Jon] Niese back, if we can. So, yeah, we got questions.’’
There are plenty of questions as the Harvey saga continues. The Mets need answers. Mostly, though, they need Matt Harvey to succeed come October to get where they really want to go.