Mayday Matt Harvey

[Edgy MD]

How do you see Matt Harvey's tenure in the bullpen breaking?

[fimg=600:1dyjum89]https://elitesportsny.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/harvey-e1524434241200.png[/fimg:1dyjum89]

[A Boy Named Seo]

Sadly don't see him flourishing either way, and I guess I don't see him being an indistinguishable middle reliever guy. I think he'll have moments of goodness in the pen, but is too stubborn and proud and dickish to get through the bad ones. I don't think they'll cut him, though.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I voted "struggle and released". I don't think it will happen immediately, but maybe by late June.

[Edgy MD]

Seven votes and we're all over the board!

• He will flourish and return to the rotation.
  1
  14%
  
  
  
• He will flourish and continue on as an asset in the pen.
  1
  14%
  
  
  
• He will distinguish himself in neither a positive nor negative manner.
  2
  29%
  
  
  
• He will struggle and finish out the year as a Met, if possibly a disabled one.
  1
  14%
  
  
  
• He will struggle and be released.
  2
  29%

[Guest d'Kong76]

I took flourish and continue on as pen asset.
Wishful thinking, I really think this story is going to not end well.

[dgwphotography]

There's an option not listed - He'll return to the rotation out of necessity due to injuries

[Centerfield]

Struggle and finish out the year.

[Guest cooby]

Flourish in the pen. Kinda a present day Tug McGraw, backward

[Benjamin Grimm]

dgwphotography wrote: There's an option not listed - He'll return to the rotation out of necessity due to injuries

And that is in fact a quite plausible option.

[nymr83]

I think he sucks in the pen and goes on the DL with phantom injuries at some point

[Edgy MD]

I imagine there are a dozen other scenarios. Incarceration. Alien abduction. I should have included an "OTHER" option.

On behalf CPF Industries and Qualcomm, I apologize.

[Fman99]

I think he turns into a super bad ass baller in the pen. But I'm the optimistic sort.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I think Harvey is too hard headed/proud to use this as a chance to prove himself. I think he will struggle in whatever capacity the Mets choose to utilize him, but he will finish the year as a Met.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I think he is reasonably effective in the pen, putting him in position to slide into the 4/5 slot, which opens when Matz hits the DL with a ligament strain suffered from dodging Zach Wheeler's severed-mid-windup arm as it flies into the dugout on July 2.

[seawolf17]

dgwphotography wrote: There's an option not listed - He'll return to the rotation out of necessity due to injuries

I think this is the most likely option, honestly, but either way, I don't think his tenure here ends well. I wouldn't be surprised to see him traded for a low-level prospect this summer.

[Guest cooby]

How did he do last night? He looks very embarrassed in that picture hiding in his hoodie

[Lefty Specialist]

Struggle and finish out the year. Last night wasn't a good beginning. Nobody would trade for him right now, so they're stuck with him. I would expect a spot in the rotation would open up at some point due to the inevitable injuries, but I don't think it'll change his trajectory.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Harvey's as likely to get injured as one of the starters, especially with his injury history.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

cooby wrote: How did he do last night? He looks very embarrassed in that picture hiding in his hoodie

He did okay. Two bad pitches, mistakes left middle-low in the zone, were hammered for back-to-back doubles. Otherwise, the velocity was up, and the control was solid.

If he can hit his spots a LITTLE better-- or at least focus on missing his spots in more harmless ways-- he'll be a success, and several steps toward successful reinvention.

[Edgy MD]

I agree he looked a little better.

Don't want to make too much of cahnfidence, but shit, if he can lose that sulky act and get his focus back, he can get by on spotting his pitches.

He's gonna get dinged from time to time, whereas early in his career, he almost never gave up homers. If he can channel Bartolo and detach himself from that, he can be alright.

[Centerfield]

Edgy MD wrote: I agree he looked a little better. Don't want to make too much of cahnfidence, but shit, if he can lose that sulky act and get his focus back, he can get by on spotting his pitches. He's gonna get dinged from time to time, whereas early in his career, he almost never gave up homers. If he can channel Bartolo and detach himself from that, he can be alright.

That's it exactly. Heck, forget Bartolo. If he can channel Paul Sewald he'd be ok. Look at how Paul hits his spots and gets movement on his pitches. Even with a 90-91 mph fastball.

I think I read that Clayton Kershaw averages 93 for his fastball. That guy seems to be doing ok.

[Ceetar]

of course, he's never spotted his pitches. Can he learn? I hope so. But it might just be one of those elite skills that he just doesn't have.

[Edgy MD]

In 2013 and 2015, his command was dazzling.

[Centerfield]

Edgy MD wrote: In 2013 and 2015, his command was dazzling.

Yes. Exactly. So stop trying to hit 98 and start trying to hit your spots.

And if you don't have the arm to throw 98 anymore, I imagine if you try to hit it you do so at the cost of location.

I mean, I imagine if I tried to throw [crossout]98[/crossout] 78, I would have no idea where it was going.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Yeah. A coupl'a things: Harvey's control was once impeccable. He could nick the edge of a dime with 100 MPH stuff. So of course he's used to spotting pitches. Whether he still can is another story.

Also, obviously a pitcher can excel, perhaps even dominate in the majors with a 92, 93 MPH fastball, which is what Harvey's got right now. But he's gonna need outstanding secondary stuff to do that because otherwise, batters will just sit on his low 90s stuff which, on its own, ain't gonna overpower anyone.

Right now, Harvey's really struggling with his changeup. It's not fooling anybody. Either he's tipping it or it isn't working against an offset fastball in the low 90s. There's a fix, of course, but it's a lot easier said than done. Most every pro pitcher can throw 92, 93. Most of those pitchers don't ever get out of the minors.

[Lefty Specialist]

Needed another option:

"Drinks his way out of baseball and finds out he owns a bar in Boston. Has an on-again, off-again relationship with Shelley Long."

[Ceetar]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Yeah. A coupl'a things: Harvey's control was once impeccable. He could nick the edge of a dime with 100 MPH stuff. So of course he's used to spotting pitches. Whether he still can is another story.

citation needed.

[Benjamin Grimm]

[Edgy MD]

In 2013, Matt Harvey walked 1.6 per nine innings, when the league averaged 3.0. That was good for 5th place among ERA title qualifiers.

In 2015, Matt Harvey walked 1.8 per nine innings, when the league averaged 2.9. That was good for 7th place among ERA title qualifiers.

[fimg=600:3kpqzvze]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Chevrolet_Citation_II_front.jpg/1200px-Chevrolet_Citation_II_front.jpg[/fimg:3kpqzvze]

[Centerfield]

To clarify, I'm not implying that the ability to hit spots or to get movement on pitches is by any means easy, but we are talking about Matt Harvey, who once demonstrated the ability to do both.

So if the surgeries have robbed him of 98 MPH, I would want him to focus on control and movement, since he can still be awesome without the 98. I don't know for sure that he's not doing this, but all the talk has been that he's concerned with getting back arm strength and hasn't really bought into "learning to pitch".

If he already is focusing on control and movement and this is the best he can do, well then I guess he's fucked.

Edited April 25, 2018 by Guest