Dan Warthen is “very skeptical” Matt Harvey will throw 200 innings in 2015, according to Marc Carig of Newsday.
“I would be very skeptical of 200 innings,” Warthen told Carig. “I don’t think we’re going to reach that number, but it would be very close. That’s at the high, high end.”
Last month, Sandy Alderson told reporters it was possible Harvey could eclipse 200 innings in the regular and postseason combined, but wouldn’t offer the specific number of innings they have in mind for his limit.
Frankly, I was surprised Sandy suggested Harvey could throw as much as what he suggested. The general point is they want Harvey to get through the entire season on the mound while keeping his arm healthy and sound, whether it ends in the playoffs or not. It’s a delicate situation because if they’re winning, Harvey’s probably going to be a big reason for that, and they’ll need his innings for critical games down the stretch (and hopefully in October).
It doesn’t sound like they have any intention of shutting Harvey down if he’s healthy, but his health needs to be protected. They can do that by taking advantage of off-days, using their strong depth in Dillon Gee, Carlos Torres and later in both Noah Syndergaard and/or Steven Matz to mitigate the risk at times, assuming the latter two are ready and aren’t approaching their innings limits. That way, they can have Harvey for those games in September and October all while keeping him under whatever limit they have for him.
Just Mets 