‘Out of the darkness’
Mets pitching coach says Harvey has made it past bullpen disappointment
San Diego — Is the storm over? The Mets seem to think so. When they decided to remove Matt Harvey from the rotation last week, they anticipated the storm ahead. They expected his anger and the comments. Maybe they weren't expecting him to curse at reporters and maybe they thought it would be a quicker transition, but it wasn't a surprise.
“He's human,” Mets pitching coach Dave Eiland said of Harvey's week of raging over the demotion. “He's human. We like the way he's going about it now. I am not gonna lie, it took him a couple of days. He kind of went into the darkness a little bit, so to speak, but now, he's come out of it and seen the light.”
Harvey has made three appearances out of the bullpen that have not really indicated any progress via the box scores. He has allowed two runs in the four innings of mop-up duty he has pitched. He gave up a home run and three doubles. He has walked two and struck out two. Harvey the reliever has a 4.50 ERA. But the Mets are optimistic. “His first outing was pretty good, couple two-out hits and gave up a run and then pitched
a clean inning. Last night was kind of the same way, made a mistake early and got the outs, so I am certainly not discouraged what I have seen in those two outings,” Mets GM Sandy Alderson said Saturday afternoon. “I think he can benefit from it. I think it's one of the primary reasons we made the move, we think he can benefit from it.”
Mets manager Mickey Callaway and Eiland, who used this method with Danny Duffy in Kansas City, firmly believe that this can be a way for Harvey to learn how to continue his career.
Harvey's average fastball velocity has dropped nearly three miles per hour from his prime. Once a fireballer whose fastball would sit around 9697 mph and reach 99, with a strikeout slider that was around 92 and a changeup around 89, the speed differential between his pitches has not been sharp enough to throw off hitters. He is learning to work with a fastball that topped out at 95 the other day.
Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz compared Harvey's transition to that of Yankees lefty CC Sabathia.
The current MLB analyst said that when Sabathia lost his velocity, he had to learn how to pitch with different tools.
And Smoltz said he thinks Harvey can too if he gets through the initial emotional reaction.
“The guy knows how to pitch, but he needs mental freedom and he needs the physical ability to match the mental freedom,” Smoltz said of Harvey.
“He needs to say ‘OK, this is what I am, this what I need to be and this is where I need to go,' and that's what CC Sabathia learned to do.”
Eiland sees that Harvey has hit that point of realization that Smoltz was talking about.
“He's at the point now where he's like, ‘This is what it is. What do I need to do to make this work then to get back,' ” Eiland said. “I have told him, ‘This is an avenue for you to get back to where you want to be and where we want you to be, so use this. Use this to help yourself.' Meanwhile at the same time, it will help the team.”
Eiland said after Harvey's outburst, he has found him to be “engaged, asking questions and working hard.”
“He's been great. I am not gonna lie, it took him two or three days,” Eiland said with a laugh. “But we knew that was going to happen.”
Both Eiland and Alderson smiled when asked about Harvey's very public displeasure with the changes. Eiland said Harvey wasn't the first pitcher he's had get “pissed off” about a decision he's made.
Alderson admitted it was a little “dramatic,” but the GM sympathized with what Harvey has been through: Tommy John surgery in 2013 and 2016 surgery to remove a rib to help relieve his Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.
“It's tough on him. Not necessarily the move to the bullpen, but what has happened over the last year or so, for somebody was that good for a couple of years, to be where he is now, is tough to handle,” Alderson said. “I don't begrudge him a little emotion.”