Charles in New Jersey thinks Matt Harvey drinks too much while on the town flaunting his shoe collection, while Ron in Queens thinks Harvey has developed a bad habit of cupping the ball during his delivery. From talk radio to the broadcast booth to bleachers around baseball, fans and media in New York and beyond are trying to solve the sudden demise of the Dark Knight. It’s his weight, it’s the blood clot, it’s his attitude, it’s the lingering psychological impact of failing after convincing his manager to send him out for the ninth inning in Game 5 of the World Series, and of course, it’s his body’s blowback from a busy 2015 post-surgery season.
Matt Harvey, a franchise cornerstone who once lit up Flushing’s darkest days, who was once an undisputed ace, who was just mere outs away from that Fall Classic performance for the ages, hasn’t hit rock bottom, even if it may have seemed like it on Tuesday night in Washington. The Nats discovered that his third time through the lineup is a charm: ex-teammate Daniel Murphy and company teed off the righty, just as they did during Harvey’s prior start, a performance that has led to even more speculation.
Would Harvey go on the disabled list? Would he be demoted to the minors to work out his kinks?
As it turns out, Harvey will do neither. He will stay the course, and face the Chicago White Sox on Monday.
“This guy is too big a piece to write him off, to flip him in the bullpen where you pick and choose where you might use him,” Mets skipper Terry Collins said. “This is the big leagues, so we’re going to certainly go about it that way.”
The Mets have made more than their share of mistakes over the years, but sending Harvey back out to the mound is not one of them. Nor was Harvey pushing himself to the hilt last season, when he set a new mark for innings pitched by a hurler in his first year back from Tommy John surgery. You take your chances in the postseason: you never know if you’re going back.
And while it’s impossible to know if the hurlers issues have been caused by his blowing past the 180 inning stop sign put up by his agent Scott Boras and surgeon Dr Andrews, here’s what I do know: Harvey has earned the right to be mediocre in 2016.
If a franchise, its fans and the media asks a player to put the team ahead of a career, then then the franchise, its fans and the media lay off the player when he hits potholes, when his world dissolves, when things that once came naturally suddenly seem foreign.
Harvey has work to do in summoning the snap in his slider, to rediscover his command, to make the on the fly adjustments that Jacob deGrom has done when facing a similar loss in velocity. Harvey has to make peace with the idea that, at least this season, grounders are as good as strikeouts and that keeping his team in the game is as productive as dominating it.
Harvey deserves rope, but in exchange, he also needs to face the music and the press after games, and to realize, that you can’t zip in and out of the gossip columns when there’s no zing on your fastball: that only works when you’re winning.
The Mets can’t carry a pitcher with an ERA over six all season, but Harvey should be granted the space needed to make the best of his current hand: low fours and high threes will do just fine in 2016.
Down the road we’ll find out if Harvey truly is the Dark Knight: a larger-than-life baseball entity that can rule the tabloids front and back while blowing away batters, or what every athlete seeking stardom dreads: being average. For now at least, he has the capital find out on his own terms.
Video of the week
No pitchers were harmed in the making of this film.
Quote of the week
“.”
That’s Matt Harvey not speaking with the media after his latest shellacking on Tuesday against Washington.
Who’s closer to victory: Donald Trump or the Cubs?
It’s a big week for Donald Trump, who must be glowing (more than usual) after picking up the support of one Woody Johnson. Not only did Trump earn the endorsement of the New York Jets’ owner, but Johnson became the vice-chairman of a fundraising committee called Trump Victory. Sure, the billionaire presumptive Republican nominee also picked up some additional financial support from the party establishment, but surely the coup is having someone that familiar with green running the show. Meanwhile the Cubs are 4-6 in their last ten, a stretch that represents their first slump of the season. Even Jake Arrieta was hit on Wednesday in St Louis. Eleven days ago Chicago had a nine-game NL Central lead and now the surging Pittsburgh Pirates have trimmed it to five, which hasn’t impressed Cubbies righty John Lackey a single bit.
“They’re kind of irrelevant. If we play our game, we’ll be OK.”
So there.
How did the kids piss off Goose Gossage this week?
Josh Donaldson complaining about how Major League Baseball has to do something about pitchers throwing at batters is not going to get him on Goose’s Christmas card list.
On Sunday, Minnesota Twins command king Phil Hughes, whose 2014 single-season mark of just 0.6868 walks per nine innings tied him with some guy named Cy Young for 37th all-time, came curiously close to hitting Donaldson on one pitch before throwing behind the Blue Jays slugger on another offering. That was no accident, of course; rather, it was unwritten-rule retribution for his staring down of a Twins bench coach after a hitting a home run earlier in the game, because that coach, Joe Vavra had been busting Donalsdon’s chops the day before. Hughes wasn’t thrown out for his sins, but Jays manager John Gibbons was, after coming out to protest and protect his player. Needless to say, Donaldson wasn’t happy.
“Major League Baseball has to do something about this,” Donaldson said. “They say they’re trying to protect players. They make a rule that says you can’t slide hard into second base. They make a rule to protect the catchers on slides into home. But when you throw a ball at somebody, nothing’s done about it. My manager comes out to ask what’s going on and he gets ejected for it. That’s what happens.”
Goose probably wouldn’t like Yasiel Puig not running out a long drive, or Miguel Cabrera giving the thumbs up to Jeremy Hellickson after striking out either.
.@MiguelCabrera was pretty impressed with the @JHell58 pitch that struck him out: https://t.co/DLCUgVS6Do pic.twitter.com/d7phU8sSpp
— Cut4 (@Cut4) May 25, 2016
Nine thoughts in order
1) It’s been a big week for the 85-year-old combo of Big Sexy Bartolo Colon and Ichiro Suzuki, both who of whom have looked ageless while entertaining. Miami’s 42-year-old Japanese outfielder had a pair of four-hit games while enjoying a stretch of 10 hits in 13 at bats versus Washington and Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, the loose-lipped Colon recovered from a pair of rough starts, celebrated his 43rd birthday a day early by holding Washington to one run over seven innings in a Mets win on Monday.
Rather incredibly, after years of vast declines, Ichiro is posting .357/.416/.400 off the bench, and could reach 3,000 hits this summer barring injury. That will prompt a baseball celebration for the Marlins, not that their ownership deserve it because …
2) … after all, we’re talking about a team that sues his own fans – and loyal ones at that. The Miami New Times reports that Jeffrey Loria is suing Mickey Axelband, a super-fan who had season tickets from the team’s founding in 1993 until recently. It’s alleged that Axelband backed out of a two-year ticket deal after the team reneged on several promises such as private parking, entrances, fully stocked buffets and other luxury items that people would drop some $24,000 a season for. Loria, who infamously ran taxpayers ragged in building a new Miami stadium, has actually sued nine fans since 2013, continuing a legacy that makes George Steinbrenner look like a schoolboy.
3) It’s hard to watch Alex Rodriguez addressing the media at Double-A Trenton and not be reminded of the mayhem of August of 2013 and the Biogenesis PED scandal. Back then, A-Rod’s defiant minor-league roadshow took him through New Jersey as he rehabbed from hip surgery before rejoining the Yankees and appealing his impending suspension. Years later, A-Rod is an unlikely media darling who is saying all the right things, even as New York stash him in the minors for a few more days in a bid save their new-found mojo. Joe Girardi’s Yanks are 14-7 since A-Rod hit the disabled list, and part of the reason is that 39-year-old Carlos Beltran has been much more productive in Rodriguez’ DH role. Unless A-Rod can re-capture his surprise 2015 form upon his return, the Yanks could opt to have a very expensive part-timer on the payroll. Would A-Rod continue to toe the line if he gets less playing time?
4) Baltimore are one of the select Major League Baseball teams that are granted “competitive balance” picks that follow the first and second rounds of the upcoming amateur draft. For the second straight season, the O’s have sent that pick to a team in exchange for a salary dump. This time Baltimore sent the disappointing Brian Matusz, $3m of his salary and the 76th overall pick to the rebuilding Atlanta Braves for a pair of pitchers. Why are early-round picks designed to help disadvantaged teams re-stock systems with potential prospects allowed to be used to save money?
Yes, the move freed up money could help Baltimore acquire a player at the trade deadline, and yes, the O’s got some “pitching depth,” as they described the two 16th round hurlers who aren’t among Atlanta’s top 30 prospects. Still, it would seem that one of the points of the picks are to help lower-revenue clubs that struggle to sign free-agents, that are currently competing for playoff spots, benefit from an additional selection during a time when their draft position is lower. I’m not sure where a salary dump fits in with that philosophy.
5) Great news: retired pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee is running for governor of Vermont, and on a platform that includes legalization and taxation of marijuana, single-payer healthcare, and most importantly, bringing the Expos back to Montreal. It’s not the first time Lee has tempted voters with baseball benefits: back in 1987 he promised to ban the DH, AstroTurf and domed stadiums while running for president on the Rhinoceros Party ticket. Check out this fun piece from WCAX.
6) Special thanks to Alfredo Simon for keeping the famed Eephus pitch alive. Shawn O’Malley of the Seattle Mariner never had a shot at this 54mph gem.
Come to think of it, it’s nearly 70 years since Ted Williams took the father of the Eephus pitch, Rip Sewell, deep in the 1946 All-Star Game.
7) The folks at MLB At Bat are taking the 75th anniversary of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak quite seriously, rattling the phones of baseball fans with alerts to mark the occasion of each hit, as it happened during the 1941 season.
Can't wait for the inevitable At Bat alert telling me Joe DiMaggio is a triple short of the cycle this day 75 years ago...thrilling stuff!
— Jon Roegele (@MLBPlayerAnalys) May 18, 2016
@19JToews SPOILER ALERT: Lou Gehrig & Joe DiMaggio are dead.
— Meat From Porky's (@hockeenight) June 16, 2015
Look, the app is amazing: there’s a reason the NHL partners with MLB to do their own. I don’t mind alerts for modern-day events, but I would really appreciate if the Dimaggio onslaught would stop. If I had my way, the next time I see Joe Dimaggio’s name flashes across my screen it should be about Jackie Bradley Jr breaking his all-time streak. Bradley has hit in 29 consecutive games.
8) NBA defenders have their hands tied, NFL cornerbacks walk on eggshells while covering wideouts. Now MLB is the latest league looking to inject offense into its sport through rule changes. This week we learned that staring in 2017, the strike zone will shrink: rising from the hollow beneath a hitter’s kneecap to the top of the knee, presumably providing overmatched batters with a better shot at not striking out or grounding out.
It’s not the first time MLB have tinkered with the zone to alter the balance of power between pitchers and hitters: back in 2001, MLB began enforcing the “high strike”, helping hurlers that had been getting crushed by over-inflated batters. Runs per game dropped immediately, but over time the strike zone grew larger and lower. Run averages mostly dropped from 2006-2014, with some slight offensive gains this season and last. Based on the surges in attendance during baseball’s steroid era, we know that chicks, and everybody else, dig the long ball, so it makes sense that MLB is seeking a more natural remedy to their power outage. And if it works, maybe fans won’t have to sit through a 13-inning game featuring some 19 strikeouts by the Baltimore Orioles, as they did on Tuesday night in Houston.
9) And finally, if you think Matt Harvey is losing it, check out Frisco RoughRiders manager, Joe Mikulik.
