Starting pitcher Matt Harvey continues to struggle, but the New York Mets are not ready to give up on him yet.
The start of the 2016 season has not been kind for New York Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey. He struggled again on Tuesday, giving up five runs through five innings in a loss to the Washington Nationals. However, the Mets are standing behind their ace pitcher.
“I’m not giving up on him,” Mets’ manager Terry Collins told reporters after he spoke with Harvey and pitching coach Dan Warthen on Wednesday, according to USA TODAY Sports.
Collins feels comfortable keeping Harvey in the rotation despite his putrid start to the season. After Harvey took another beating by the Nationals on Wednesday, his ERA is up to a laughingly bad 6.08 on the season.
With 10 starts under his belt, Harvey has pitched enough this season to know this is more than early season struggles. There is likely something wrong, and my money is on him not feeling right after pitching too many innings last season.
Including the Mets’ postseason run, Harvey pitched a career high 216 innings last season, and that was just one year removed from having Tommy John surgery. Harvey is the only guy in recent memory who was not put on an innings limit in his return season from Tommy John, and it may hurt him going forward.
That being said, Harvey could just as easily be working through some mental things on the mound. It is really difficult to say, but it is extremely surprising to see him struggling so much.
With no other strong options to replace him, the Mets are deciding to let Harvey work out his struggles on the mound. Once one of the most dominant pitchers in the game, it will be interesting to see if Harvey can get back on track.
Harvey’s next start for the Mets will come on Monday at home against the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox.
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