Matt Harvey has found himself on the humble side of humanity over the last month, and the biggest test of his so far brilliant career his among him.
Harvey allowed seven runs on nine hits with only two strikeouts in six innings of work on Wednesday, losing for the third time in his last four starts and seeing his record fall to 6-4 with a 3.62 ERA for the year in 79 2/3 innings over 12 starts.
Five of the seven runs allowed came in the fifth inning – it was the most runs he’s allowed in an inning in his entire career.
“It was just a terrible performance,” Harvey said late Wednesday night. “The last couple of starts have been extremely bad. Just not getting it done. Just not helping the team in any way. Something needs to change.”
The most curious part of Harvey’s problems lately have been the number of home runs allowed. He’s allowed eight home runs in his last four starts, during which he’s compiled an eye sore of a 7.20 ERA. He had allowed four home runs in his previous eight starts in 2015 – his ERA in those starts was just 1.98.
“I’m just all over the place,” Harvey emphatically explained. “Not putting people away when I need to. Not keeping people off base when I need to. Obviously not keeping the ball in the yard when I need to. I just have to be better.”
The stuff is unquestionably there, so it’s not a health issue. His fastball averaged over 97 mph, and at one point he was throwing it 100 mph early in the game. The slider also has the expected velocity on it, although that pitch seems to lack that overwhelming electricity it had in 2013, and he isn’t throwing it as much as he did two years ago. Perhaps that’s by design and an adjustment he’s making to protect his elbow, but that’s not entirely clear.
Harvey certainly isn’t using his recovery from Tommy John Surgery as an excuse for his recent problems – he’s focused on rectifying his problems on the mound immediately.
“I’m not going to use [the surgery and recovery] as an excuse,” Harvey defiantly said. “It’s just a terrible performance. The last couple of starts have been extremely bad. I’m just not getting it done, not helping the team in any way. Something needs to change. I need to go to square one. We’re going to start tomorrow.”
This is a matter of location, execution and predictability for Harvey, and three of his last four starts have been ineffective because of those three problems, and he hasn’t been able to adjust and stop the bleeding when he’s run into these problems. They’re swinging early in the count all the time now, he’s not missing bats, not putting people away, and not only does he continue to sit in the strike zone, he’s now struggling to command the strike zone, hence eight home runs allowed in his last four starts and not a lot of winning to boot.
This is a very smart pitcher, and a pitcher that holds himself to a very high standard, even higher than the public does. He knows what his problem is on the mound, and no matter what he says or how he feels, this is not a player who rationalizes anything or makes excuses for poor performances. He has a lot of work to do to return to form. But now he’s obviously very angry at himself, which can be both good and bad. It’s a matter of projecting his anger in a productive manner between now and his next start against the Braves, and figuring out a way to execute his pitches better.
In the end, he will probably be fine. He could not possibly be as good as he was without hitting a snag and the league catching up to his bag of tricks. Even the best struggle, but the best find a way to adjust again – time will tell if he can pass this big test.
Just Mets 