With the announcement that Dillon Gee is having potentially season-ending surgery, the Mets officially have a long-term opening in their starting
Matt Harvey has made great strides at Buffalo.
rotation.
When Gee was placed on the 15-day disabled list earlier this week (due to numbness in his fingers caused by a blood clot), the Mets assumed he would only miss a couple of weeks. As a result, they penciled in Miguel Batista to make a spot start next week, when the Mets would require a fifth starter.
Now, Gee is getting surgery to repair the damaged artery in his right shoulder. This procedure is designed to prevent any further blood clots from forming in this area. This surgery means he will be out 6-8 weeks, and will possibly miss the rest of the season. Because of this development, the Mets should recall Matt Harvey from Triple-A Buffalo, and allow him to prove himself at the major league level.
Making Strides
Coming out of Spring Training, Harvey was not ready for the big leagues. He showed flashes of brilliance, but struggled with his command in and out of the strike zone too often.
After a rough start in Buffalo, he has worked with manager Wally Backman and the Bisons’ staff to improve his command, and has come on strong over the last month or two.
His overall numbers are pretty good (7-4, 3.39 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 9.3 K/9 innings), but his stats over his last ten games have been better (4-3, 2.72 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 64 Ks in 56.1 innings). There have been occasions where he has not been able to go deep into games, mostly as a result of pitch count restrictions. That’s not to say he didn’t struggle when he only went 4 innings against Toledo, but he didn’t give up any runs, despite walking 5.
The Right Attitude
And walks are still an issue for Harvey, despite the fact he has improved in that area. Listening to those who have seen him pitch lately, he needs to locate his fastball and get his curve ball over in order to be effective. Then again, that’s like your caddy telling you the strategy off the tee is to put one in the fairway – these are obvious keys to success for just about anyone.
Harvey also seems to have the right attitude. When he was drafted in 2010, Mets officials compared him to Mike Pelfrey in his size and durability. One thing he has over Pelfrey is his self confidence. He vocally felt he belonged in the bigs in Spring Training. It doesn’t come across as arrogance, just a strong belief in one’s self. Pelfrey, from the perspective of the far-away observer that I admittedly am, didn’t seem to care if he was in the majors, minors, Arizona Fall League, or if he were bowling on a cricket pitch.
“He’ll take a lump or two if they call him up,” Backman said on Tuesday. “But his fastball command is much improved. He can help them.”
A logical assessment from the firebrand manager, and a guy who’s been in the brightest of spotlights. Harvey will take his lumps. As promising as he is, he’s not 1984 Doc Gooden – not many are.
Time to Make the Call
But he has the stuff, he has the makeup, and he’s shown the ability to improve and adjust – quickly. At this point, he’s already developed beyond Chris Schwinden and Jeremy Hefner. At best, he’ll be an electrifying addition to the Mets starting rotation down the stretch. At worst, he’ll be ineffective and go back down to Buffalo to work on some things.
I’ve seen the Mets rush Tim “The Next Tom Seaver” Leary to the big club before he was ready (though in that case, he was probably more a victim of the cold, damp Chicago weather), and I’ve seen Mike Pelfrey’s growth stunted by early appearances in 2006 (his minor league numbers were never the same after his cup of major league java). But with Harvey, I believe he has the mental makeup to overcome adversity and succeed at the next level, and the determination to work on his game if he doesn’t succeed.
33 comments
Stick
7/11/2012-9:53pm at 9:53 pm (UTC -4)
should have put this comment here!
with Gee done for the year, just call him up. Install him into the rotation and just leave him there (barring a horrific string of starts of course)
maybe skip his turn next time through so he can have 1 more MiL tune up, then bring him up for the 7/21 game when they really need a 5th SP.
side benefit to that is, he makes his first start at home (against the dodgers), and his 2nd start will be vs. the Dbacks. So not in-division pennant race road games.
NJstuckinTX
7/11/2012-9:58pm at 9:58 pm (UTC -4)
Unless some decent can be had for cheap (which there is no one out there, I tell you), He has to be given the nod. He’s not 19. Time to grab the opportunity as it arises.
SaltyGary
7/11/2012-10:17pm at 10:17 pm (UTC -4)
I’m sold Paul. Reading about the blogosphere there seems to be a crowd that says go for it and others that say he has just gotten the mojo in AAA and he should get another month.
With Gee out for the year, they should go for it. People just need to understand it may be bumpy. He had a tough start to both AA and AAA but the constant is he adjusted. And what you alluded to he has that mental makeup to get him well beyond someone like Pelfrey and frankly the two people should never be spoken about in the same sentence again.
NJstuckinTX
7/11/2012-10:32pm at 10:32 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed in that we can’t expect to see Straus or Doc right out of the shoot. But he’ll pitch every bit as good as Bautista and a fair chance he pitches a heck of a lot better.
Connor O'Brien
7/11/2012-10:21pm at 10:21 pm (UTC -4)
McCullough:
“For the record, Mets officials do not think Harvey is ready to thrive at the major-league level. They believe he can survive, though.”
https://twitter.com/McCulloughSL/statuses/223214710751899649
“But Harvey wasn’t supposed to be called up just to survive. He’s supposed to be a cornerstone of the rotation. Hence, the dilemma.”
https://twitter.com/McCulloughSL/statuses/223214960363315200
Give Harvey a month
Paul Festa
7/11/2012-10:27pm at 10:27 pm (UTC -4)
I think it’s possible the Mets go with a stopgap for a month, as you say. If only to make sure Harvey has a predictable timeline to work with. I’d be OK with that.
NJstuckinTX
7/11/2012-10:33pm at 10:33 pm (UTC -4)
So is it one month of surviving and then he’ll be good to go or will this crush him and that will be that?
Connor O'Brien
7/11/2012-10:22pm at 10:22 pm (UTC -4)
He also has some problems with allowing hitters to work him into deep counts too often. I’d wait until he’s 100% ready to go. In a month, if he’s addressing the few problems that remain, then he can join the rotation…
Stick
7/11/2012-10:43pm at 10:43 pm (UTC -4)
my opinion, if he is so close that a few more starts (even a month) in AAA will be enough to finalize him, he is close enough to make the same tweaks in the majors if need be
and surviving at first is not bad for most prospects coming up! and a short hop to thriving.
besides, odds are that his first few starts are going to be an adventure (learning curve?) whether he comes up next week or next month.
TRS86
7/11/2012-11:19pm at 11:19 pm (UTC -4)
Something that no one seems to be reporting. Harvey is at 100 innings. He pitched 135 last year so 160 is most likely his limit. That’s only 60 more innings starting with his next start. 6 innings a start would give him 10 starts tops. Do you want those bullets now or later?
One thing I guess they could do is limit his innings for a few rotations?
Stick
7/11/2012-11:49pm at 11:49 pm (UTC -4)
they aren’t going to shut him down at AAA waiting a month to call him up, so that seems like a reason to get him to the majors and get some use out of him!
and if you look back, that 135 might be lower than some earlier years, factoring in winter ball and college (and did he pitch in winter ball last year).
so, 160 may not be a real limit. not likely he will go 230, but 170? 175? quite possibly.
TRS86
7/11/2012-11:54pm at 11:54 pm (UTC -4)
I was under the impression that they don’t count winterball in that innings limit but I still only expect about 30 more innings than last year. Wasn’t saying shut him down in AAA.
NJstuckinTX
7/12/2012-9:08am at 9:08 am (UTC -4)
So using those 10 starts, give or take, should either bridge the gap until Gee is back or give Sandy some time to find a 5th starter on the market to take over once Harvey’s shut down.
Stickguy
7/12/2012-9:10am at 9:10 am (UTC -4)
still likely better to do that, then have Batista make the next 10 ML starts, with Harvey pitching all his innings in the minors.
NJstuckinTX
7/12/2012-9:12am at 9:12 am (UTC -4)
You only have Bautista make 10 starts if you are looking to improve your draft position!
srt
7/12/2012-9:15am at 9:15 am (UTC -4)
If we’re going with Batista for 10 starts we might as well raise the white flag now.
Stickguy
7/12/2012-9:30am at 9:30 am (UTC -4)
well, if they don’t use Harvey, it is going to be Batista or hefner, right? unless you think Sandy is swinging a quick trade, and even then, are you getting someone better than the stiffs we already have?
srt
7/12/2012-9:27am at 9:27 am (UTC -4)
Good point TRS. Innings limit for Harvey, which would be normal, is not going to help us much down the stretch in Sept. Of course, we have to get to Sep still being in contention for it to matter.
It’s almost looking like they need to go out and get someone this month.
Stickguy
7/12/2012-9:31am at 9:31 am (UTC -4)
I would not write it in stone that he will be limited to 160. There might be a limit they really won’t go beyond, but that would be on the really conservative side, and probably dependent on how he was doing (stuff, strength, etc.)
srt
7/12/2012-9:46am at 9:46 am (UTC -4)
Since this FO seems hell bent on keeping and using Batista, I suppose if they called up Harvey, they could alternate between the 2 of them somewhat for the 5th start.
I really don’t know what the answer is. I’ll confess to not having a clue who might be available this month. But as you pointed out, might be mostly scrub type pitchers anyway. Not unless we’re willing to give up a couple of prospects in a trade for a better type pitcher. And no…not talking about a Hamels or Greinke type pitcher either.
srt
7/12/2012-9:48am at 9:48 am (UTC -4)
And another thing…..
What happens if either Johan or Young wind up on the DL in Sep b/c of something like shoulder fatigue – which is very possible considering they’re both coming back from the same type of surgery?
Would like to see a little more depth for the starting rotation. Probably not going to happen though.
NJstuckinTX
7/12/2012-9:53am at 9:53 am (UTC -4)
I think they should kick the tires on Colon. Maybe do a package for Balfour and Colon. Have no clue what they would want but that should provide the opportunity to package Murphy/Kirk/Valdy/McHugh types and not lose a top notched talent. You can keep Harvey in the minors, bolster the BP and that way until (God forbid) someone’s shoulder comes flying off, Harvey can be the next man up.
srt
7/12/2012-10:06am at 10:06 am (UTC -4)
Well, this is a little more reasonable than the combo of Murph/Spin I think you had on MMO.
Gotta keep one of them to play 2nd base, right?
NJstuckinTX
7/12/2012-10:17am at 10:17 am (UTC -4)
I worded it funny. I meant some combination of a couple players (Murph and Valdy being in that group). Certainly would need to keep one of them to start 2B for the Mets.
srt
7/12/2012-8:51am at 8:51 am (UTC -4)
Tough luck for Dillon. Wish him the best with this surgery and hope that leads to no further complications or blood clots.
Oh boy….what to do…..If Harvey is indeed on a innings limit he’s quickly approaching, not sure what good that will do us in Sept.
It’s always the ones you least suspect. Who had Pelfrey and Gee going down before Johan…and later Young when they called him up? Certainly not me.
Stickguy
7/12/2012-9:09am at 9:09 am (UTC -4)
good point there about least expected.
Like the year where the only guy not to hit the DL was old gimpy, Castillo.
TRS86
7/12/2012-10:31am at 10:31 am (UTC -4)
I think there are prob. some guys out there like Zach Duke who was in the AAA AS game for the Nats. They certainly don’t need him. Of course they may not want to trade with us either but there are bound to be names like that out there. They could at least get us into August and if AAA does a good job limiting Harvey’s innings while he polishes up a little more we may get the best of both worlds. Depth and polish.
srt
7/12/2012-10:47am at 10:47 am (UTC -4)
I know hindsight is 20/20 but wish now they had ponied up the money and resigned Capuano.
It’s sounding more and more like we either stand pat – rather than trading for scrub type pitchers we already have – or go all in with a bigger trade.
Maybe SA can find a pitcher out there not on our radar at the moment.
TRS86
7/12/2012-10:48am at 10:48 am (UTC -4)
True but at that point you had no idea Pelf would go down for the season and it would have been tough to demote Gee to start the season.
srt
7/12/2012-10:57am at 10:57 am (UTC -4)
Just ironic that rather than go for some depth, the FO seemed to roll the dice on Santana starting and lasting the whole season.
Fast forward 3 months and Johan doing fine. It’s Pelf and Gee who went down. Hardly any rotation goes wire to wire.
I know they picked up Young (and yea!), probably to hedge their bets against Johan. But now we’ve got 2 SP down and no depth. Schwinden as we’ve found out, didn’t cut it. Hefner is only marginally better.
I have to believe they were hoping against hope that 6 credible SPs would be enough and if not, Harvey would be ready for a call up. Well, here we are……..
TRS86
7/12/2012-11:08am at 11:08 am (UTC -4)
The problem was not going after guys like Zach Duke and Paul Maholm. Guys that were in no positions to make demands and you could have put in the pen or AAA. Both guys are LH and should still be available.
oleosmirf
7/12/2012-10:43am at 10:43 am (UTC -4)
The one I think makes perfect sense is Jason Marquis who after a dismal start in Minnesota, has been very good with SD.
I wouldn’t give up anything of real value, but maybe a guy like Quintanilla that could probably start for them as a throw with a low level minor leaguer…
TRS86
7/12/2012-10:47am at 10:47 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, that’s the type of players I would look for, for now.