Mike Puma tweets the somewhat surprising (if only for the timing) news:
Harvey is going to the bullpen says Callaway.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) April 21, 2018
Well, I guess Matt Harvey is not a starting pitcher anymore. Which he said he was after his latest dog outing on Thursday. But I don’t know what else he was going to say, as if saying he was a starting pitcher was some sort of declaration that he wouldn’t accept a bullpen assignment.
He has no choice.
I’ve said it a few times before: Mickey Callaway and staff are proactive, and not affected by affinity bias or halo bias or World Series Game 5 bias. They are doing what’s best for the club, and Harvey will be a good teammate and accept it, because he has no choice. If he doesn’t, he’ll be gone. There can’t be any more patience with him. If he finds his game, or pulls a CC Sabathia and re-invents himself, great. I’m sure the Mets and their fans would welcome that. (We’d have no choice either.) But kudos to the continued proactiveness of the Mets, and hopefully Matt Harvey can find some sort of form, even if it isn’t his Dark Knight form.
But now the question is this: Harvey was taking up a rotation spot that another pitcher could have done more with. Now that’s corrected, but whose spot in the bullpen does he take after the return of Jason Vargas? They’ve all been going so well. Will there be a spot for Harvey to be useful out of the bullpen while simultaneously finding himself? Let’s see how long this experiment lasts.
Update: Matt Harvey’s reaction:
Harvey: "I have to get my shit together out there."
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) April 21, 2018
Okay. It’s settled. I’m sure the boys in the ‘pen will love having you around.
Further Update: Matt Harvey’s full reaction:
Matt Harvey says on the pissed-off scale, he's a 10 out of 10. But he acknowledges: "I need to get my s— together." pic.twitter.com/L59Q2uHgN8
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 21, 2018
Those who want Harvey to have a reality check are probably half satisfied. He says he wants to do what he can to help the team, but qualified that he thinks he can best help the team from the starting rotation. For those wanting Harvey to be completely humble about this, I hate to tell you this, but Matt is right. Matt Harvey isn’t going to help the team while he’s a reliever. As long as he’s in the bullpen, he’ll be “getting his shit in order”. Because when it’s in order, he’s going to be back in that rotation provided the current starting five aren’t all healthy or pitching well. He’s not all of a sudden going to morph into some ace seventh inning guy. You want Matt Harvey to rely on his ego or on being a prick to regain his form. It’s okay to have an ego. It’s okay to be a prick.
I just don’t think that’s going to help him in this case.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
