The Great Matt Harvey Debate

To bring, or not to bring. That is the question.
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of line drives coming back at Miguel Batista
Or to take Matt Harvey’s arm against a sea of contenders
And by opposing end them. To die—to lose,
No more; and by lose to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand OPS of Larry Jones
That pitch is heir to: ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to lose;
To lose, perchance to suck—ay, there’s the rub:
For out those piles of losses what dreams may come.

Hamlet dies at the end. The Mets, with Dillon Gee’s updated diagnosis and necessary surgery which would probably put him out for the season, might be headed in that direction. It doesn’t have to. The Mets, instead of sticking with team mascot Miguel Batista to slip into the fifth starter slot as they have said they would do, could roll the dice and bring up prospect the International League’s player of the All-Star Game Matt Harvey.

I would like to see Matt Harvey come up. But upon further introspection I think I want Harvey up because I tend to prefer the devil I don’t know. I’ve seen Miguel Batista crush my hopes and dreams. I haven’t seen Matt Harvey do that yet. I know Harvey’s stats. I know they were good enough to make the AAA All-Star team. Does it mean he’s ready to be a star in the major leagues? Not necessarily. But that isn’t the discussion … because if the people running the Mets now say that he’s not ready, I believe them. I wouldn’t believe it if we were still run by the guys who like to promote guys before they were ready just to “challenge them”. (Looking right at you, Bernazard.)

The discussion, for me, is whether a Matt Harvey before he’s truly ripe will do the Mets more good than Batista who’s been overripe by about ten years. It’s about whether this season is worth the potential to put up a brick wall in Harvey’s road of progress. It’s about whether bringing a starter up a level to start is the same thing as bringing a starter up to just throw fastballs out of the bullpen. Jenrry Mejia may have been rushed. But then again I thought Ike Davis was rushed because Snoop Manuel was trying to save his job and that actually worked out okay in 2010. So who knows what Matt Harvey will bring to the table if he was brought up tomorrow. I’m sure he could use more seasoning and it seems like Terry Collins will trust a 41-year-old over a 23-year-old with no major league experience every time. So we’re not going to get to find out. And rushing Harvey would fly in the face of everything Sandy Alderson and the Superfriends were brought here to do.

But if Miguel Batista threatens to take this team out of a playoff race, they might not have a choice. Because as you already know, Hamlet dies at the end. He doesn’t have to.