New York Mets Ace Matt Harvey Is Reeling
By Ron Juckett
Three straight bad outings by Matt Harvey has the New York Mets and fans wondering what is wrong.
New York Mets ace Matt Harvey was torched again Tuesday night by the Washington Nationals.
As he struggled with command in the fourth inning, solo shots back-to-back from Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon wounded Harvey while a three-run blast from Daniel Murphy sent him reeling on the canvas. Facing Stephen Strasburg, who fanned 11 in 6 and 2/3rd innings himself, the Mets wound up losing 7-4. With the loss, Harvey’s record falls to 3-7.
First the good news. Yes, there was some.
In the first two innings, Harvey’s fastball ranged from 94 to 95 miles-per-hour, hitting 96 on a couple occasions. These were not swing and miss pitches, but the velocity from 2015 came back.
To left-handed batters, it appeared he introduced a cutter floating around 92-93. It is unusual to work a new pitch in once the season starts, but these are strange times that call for desperate measures. If Harvey is adding to his arsenal, the pitch worked. Nats hitters were caught on the wrong foot. His delivery did not look fluid, but not as mechanical as last week’s outing at Citi Field.
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The bad news, however, is what will grab headlines.
The second time through the Washington lineup, Harvey tried mixing in more curveballs and breaking pitches that missed the strike zone. Again, the fastball flattened out dropping to 93.
By the time he surrendered the back-to-back home runs to Zimmerman and Rendon, he relied on a changeup that hung over the middle of the plate belt high. You saw Harvey’s shoulders droop and the eyes search for an answer lost into the Nationals Park bleachers.
Although the pitch count sat at 69 through four innings, ex-Met Murphy’s three-run shot in the fifth was the last straw. Allowed to finish the inning trailing 5-1, the night was over and the New York press raced to their keyboards again.
What started with promise frankly leaves more questions than answers. If the Mets hope to repeat as National League East champions, they need Harvey pitching with confidence.
He says he is healthy, but on a warm night in DC, he appeared winded and lost arm strength the second time through the lineup. In his 84 pitches, 49 were strikes while 35 were called balls. For a player who is known for good control, throwing strikes 58.3 percent of the time is bad. Strasburg tossed 108 and nailed 74 for strikes, a 68.5 percent rate.
As of Tuesday night, Harvey’s 6.08 ERA is the worst for a NL starting pitcher. Sure, good players go through slumps. Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton has struggled through May as if he turned into noted non-hitter Mario Mendoza. Harvey’s problems, however, seem deeper. Tuesday, he struck out one, allowing three pitches to leave the park. Extra video and tinkering with mechanics is not solving that.
The excellent Mets television crew of Gary Cohen and Ron Darling mentioned on the telecast whether Harvey should be sent to the minors to figure his problems out. Other teams would state a fabricated injury such as arm fatigue and place the beleaguered hurler on the disabled list.
Whatever they do, having the pitching face of the franchise implode twice in a row against their biggest divisional rival will hurt them as the season goes along. They need him.
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