In 2012, the Washington Nationals were not shy about their intention of shutting down their star ace, Stephen Strasburg, once he hit roughly 160 innings pitched. In his first year following Tommy John surgery, the Nationals decided the long-term future was more important than that year’s result. Sure enough, his final start came on September 7th and even though the Nationals won the division, the playoff run (which was short-lived) commenced without Strasburg contributing. The Nationals’ faithful are still working to live that one down and considering the past couple years of lackluster success in October, 2012 is not becoming any easier to swallow.
Mets’ fans meanwhile are starting to fear the same thing is about to occur. The Mets, who haven’t been in the playoffs since 2006, are in good position to end that drought. They have a six game lead over the Nationals and their young talent has put the league on notice that they are here to stay. However, revelations last week have caused panic in Queens. The culprit? Scott Boras and his announcement that Harvey is capped at 180 innings this season. Immediately, Mets fans checked the stats and saw that the right-hander was already at 166.1 innings. Two or three more starts and he would hit that number and if there in fact was a hard cap, Harvey’s season would be over. Harvey added fuel to the fire when he not only confirmed that he was aware of the 180 inning limit, but basically implied he was planning on following that prescription. Obviously the New York media immediately started the fire on which to roast the Mets’ young star. Indeed, Two-Face Harvey became public enemy number 1 in New York and other fan-bases pondered how furious they would be their team’s best player said the same thing.
On Sunday, Harvey quickly backtracked and insisted that if the Mets made the playoffs he would pitch. Well, that may have helped, but the damage is done. Tuesday night, Harvey pitched 5.1 IP to take him to 171.2 innings for the season, and while his defense let him down and he surrendered seven runs, he’s still obviously very important to the fortunes of this team.
The question still remains, and will continue to remain until the end of the season, what will the Mets do with Matt Harvey? With a six game lead in the division on September 9th, it would be easy to be complacent. However, the Nationals have played well recently and are making a race of the division when a week or two ago, it appeared like it was all over. It’s no secret the only representative of the NL East in the playoffs will be the winner. Obviously, if the Mets collapse down the stretch and not make the playoffs it won’t matter what happens with Harvey in October. However, the biggest fear of Mets’ fans has to be that Harvey won’t even pitch until the end of the regular season, let alone the playoffs. If Harvey doesn’t pitch and the Mets miss out on the playoffs, one can only imagine the fallout from that decision.
Comments from GM Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins have been non-committal at best and it’s understandable that Harvey’s comments on Sunday can’t be taken too seriously since he’s likely the least important person in the decision-making process. Harvey has taken a lot of grief the last couple days and rightfully so. However, let’s not forget that he’s still very young and while he plays in the largest market in the country, it hasn’t been until this year that the Mets have had playoff aspirations and therefore the focus on the team is that much greater. Athletes say stupid stuff all the time and while it’s easy to take away that Harvey is a selfish, prima donna who doesn’t care about the fortunes of the team, that conclusion is unfair and mostly likely inaccurate.
What this all comes down to is at what point does the interest of Matt Harvey, the commodity and client (of Scott Boras), outweigh Matt Harvey, the star pitcher and employee of the New York Mets? When does Harvey’s worth as a good outweigh his value as a talented baseball player who could help deliver to Flushing something it hasn’t had in nearly 30 years? Who decides when those conflicted interests intersect and what the ultimate decision will be?
Boras is a real-life Jerry Maguire who has made millions by being the best sports agent in the world. His charisma and drive are notable in sports-circles and it’s no accident that his clients include the biggest names in sports. He has a lot to gain (and lose) by how Harvey is handled by the Mets. If Harvey has a career-altering injury because he pitches too much, not only will Harvey feel that in his wallet, Boras will as well. However, if Harvey is protected and comes back next year completely healthy and ready to pitch for as many innings as he’s needed, and is able to do that for 10-15 more years, then Boras will make bus loads of money. In short, Boras doesn’t lose if Harvey doesn’t pitch the rest of the season, but he could potentially gain a ton!
The Mets on the other hand are a team that needs to win as much as any team in baseball. The fans, while they have seen several good years since their last World Championship in 1986, have suffered through the past 30 years. It’s never good when people start saying “That’s the most Mets thing ever” in regards to poor decision-making, bad luck, and down-right futility. The Mets would love to experience long-term success with Harvey and all the other young pitchers they have on their staff and with the chance to be compared to the 1990s Braves, the Mets could be set for the next decade with pitching. However, if anything bad would happen to Harvey this season, that could hurt those long-term possibilities.
But if they would ask the Nationals their opinion on things, they might be surprised what they hear. The Nationals, while they have won a lot of regular season games since 2012, they still have nothing to show for it in terms of Postseason success. Maybe, if the Nats could do it over again, they would have kept throwing Strasburg out there in 2012 and see what would have happened. If they got hot and won the World Series, that takes care of a lot of ills for a long time. If the Nationals go through the Harper and Strasburg era (obviously many years left) and don’t win it all, 2012 could be the year Nats fans never forget.
All that being said, Harvey needs to pitch. He needs to pitch and pitch and pitch. There are no guarantees in professional sports and you have to win while you have a chance. While it might logically make sense for Harvey to sit, sometimes logic takes a back seat to the ultimate goal, winning. Ted Williams, Stan Musial, and Dan Marino (sorry…it’s football season now) would likely give up all their records and accolades for ONE championship.
Oh, and don’t worry about Mr. Boras. He will be okay.
