Matt Harvey Doesn't Have Terry Collins To Push Around Anymore
Matt Harvey knows adversity well, and has always managed to say the right thing although at times his body language and actions suggest otherwise.
But now he is outwardly upset.
I don't blame him. I'd be upset with me if I were in his shoes, too. But is he mad with himself, or the Mets? The truth probably lies somewhere in between, but he is definitely leaning in one of two directions.
Matt struck New York City like a lightning bolt in July of 2012, and for the first seven months of his career electrified all of major league baseball. The Dark Knight was born, and every fifth day the Harvey Day signal illuminated over Roosevelt Avenue, Queens.
Then came the blackout. Matt's brilliant launch short-circuited in August 2013 when he was diagnosed with the dreaded partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Harvey would inevitably require Tommy John surgery causing him to miss all of the 2014 season.
He returned for the 2015 season helping the Mets reach the World Series, but not without his agent Scott Boras instigating a brouhaha over innings limits. But even Boris' best laid plans have come undone as Harvey's career continues suffering outages. In June 2016 he underwent a second surgery to correct thoratic outlet syndrome. Exactly one year later to the day on June, 15, 2017 Harvey was placed on the disabled list for a stress fracture of the scapula (shoulder blade) requiring yet more surgery and ten more weeks of unavailability.
Matt Harvey entered spring training expressing both relief and optimism after having experienced a self-described normal off-season, for a change. But his Grapefruit League performance was pedestrian at best. He posted a 4.50 ERA and struck out 18 batters over twenty innings pitched, while surrendering 21 hits and walking six for a 1.350 WHiP.
After four regular season starts, the Real Deal has been real bad. He presently owns an even 6.00 ERA and a 1.429 WHiP after just 21 innings pitched, in which he allowed 26 hits and four walks and fanned 17 batters.
Matt Harvey's career has now not-so-suddenly gone completely awry, and one way or another we are surely witnessing the end days of the Darkening Knight. Suffering perhaps the most devastating setback of his career to date, the Mets demoted him. The timing couldn't have been worse. Matt Harvey is eligible to become a free agent after this season. His relationship with the Mets was already strained since before this latest development. If Matt was unsure before regarding his future with the Mets, he is most likely certain of departure now. And make no mistake ... Scott Boras will execute a plan towards that end. But only if his client gets his stool samples together first.
What little value Harvey had left, is all but gone at this juncture. If he is to garner even the slightest interest on the open market Matt must first reestablish credibility in a Mets uniform by earning his way out of the bullpen. For the moment, the team says Matt Harvey is no longer a member of the Mets starting rotation.
That's too bad ... for him.
If he proves himself worthy, I'm sure this will be a transient situation. In the meantime, Matt can snivel if he wants to. That's just Matt being Matt. And there's nothing wrong with that. I want someone who demands the ball every fifth day no matter the circumstance. That's actually quite commendable. Unfortunately for Harvey the Mets have a new regime calling the shots now whom he can't seem to bully. On the contrary, the Darkening Knight is being directed to look into the same mirror Zack Wheeler was instructed to confront at Las Vegas earlier this season.
The Mets previously made the mistake of letting Harvey dictate his own terms of employment. Not necessarily in terms of imposing inning limits or medical issues (although he and Scott Boris did just that in 2015), but through his resistance and occasional open defiance of Terry Collins. Who can forget Game Five of the 2015 World Series when Collins allowed Harvey to bully him out of making a sound pitching change during ... I don't know ... the most important game in recent Mets history?
Mickey Callaway and Dave Eiland have thus far demonstrated they're entertaining none of that. Eiland minced no words in his criticisms of Zack Wheeler, and now Mickey Callaway is likewise leaving little doubt in Matt Harvey's mind where it concerns his newly modified expectations. Matt Harvey may not agree, but I find the organizational conviction refreshing.
If you recall, Harvey was suspended last season. According to the New York Times Harvey confessed to being out late beyond curfew on a Friday night, then playing golf the following morning. He says the combination of activities rendered him MIA for a Saturday afternoon game. Embarrassed, Matt did all the right things with regards to apologizing to the organization and mates. But in truth the matter only exasperated his reputation for being a local celebrity about town.
Now this ...
Harvey's handling of his unavoidable Q&A with the media was understandable. He's a man down on his luck, and his future as an effective major league pitcher is coming into serious question. But his decision to swear and willfully speak in scatological terms on air is curious. It certainly does not serve his best interest. If anything, he invites a new conversation focusing on comportment.
I have a saying: once is an event; twice is a coincidence; three times is a trend.
That means one more questionable move by the Darkening Knight completes the hat trick.
UPDATE: 6:03pm Wednesday, April 25, 2018
SNY-TV reports Matt Harvey blows off media, and swears at them again.
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