Matt Harvey was so impossibly good from his debut in Arizona in July, 2012 through August, 2013.
There was just one problem – he had an 18 month period when he did not pitch because he needed Tommy John Surgery in August, 2013.
Harvey took the mound during spring training and pitched like he hadn’t missed a beat. That energy and fire which was on display before the injury seemingly never left him – it was quite possible he could be impossibly good again and rise past the adversity he had battled through for the previous year and a half.
For eight starts this season, he seemed to be doing exactly that. He posted a 1.98 through his first eight starts of 2015. He was ace-like or, at least co-ace-like to form a truly dynamic duo with Jacob deGrom.
But Harvey is faced with the first true baseball challenge of his big league career. Teams are hitting him, and hitting him long and far. He has a 7.20 ERA and allowed eight home runs in his last four starts and overall this season, he’s allowed 12 home runs–as many home runs as he gave up in 2012 and 2013 combined.
“This game has been easy for Matt Harvey. Now he’s going to be tested,’’ Terry Collins explained before Thursday’s 5-4 win over the Giants. “Now how are you going to fix it? Now all of a sudden he has flattened out and the panic has set in. I don’t think there is anything wrong. I just think we have to work our way through this.’’
Collins has challenged Harvey to not be caught up in who he is, what he means and the celebrity status that follows. Rather, Collins wants his co-ace to focus on himself and righting his own ship.
“I want him to be the Matt Harvey he was, don’t get caught up in the persona,’’ Collins explained. “Get caught up in the individual. Who you are and what made the persona what it is and be that guy.
“Not everybody is perfect. You are not going to be perfect. You are going to make mistakes but, find that fire again that made you so successful. I think he can handle it,” Collins concluded.
Collins said he spoke with John Smoltz about the effects Harvey’s elbow surgery might be having, and Smoltz told the manager there’s no doubt there could be a, “hangover” from the procedure and recovery process.
“I’m going to relay that to Matt and if I have to I will have John Smoltz relay that to Matt,’’ Collins said.
Given all the success Harvey has had in his brilliant young career, Collins believed Harvey would be able to defy the recovery process and not struggle, especially since he had been so successful over his first eight starts since coming back.
“Did we ever think he would be going through what he is going through? No,’’ Collins acknowledged.
Sandy Alderson offered a sobering reality to Harvey’s recent struggles, and is trying to keep his progress in perspective.
“I think we have to be realistic about what he’s gone through over the last year and a half,” Alderson said. “We are still in the process of finding out what Matt is going to be able to do over the course of the season.”
The problem lately, it seems, is that Harvey has become predictable. He’s throwing a lot of fastballs and he’s been missing in the zone. In the first inning of his last start against the Giants, he allowed a 2-run home run to Joe Panik on a fastball down the middle–the first home run Harvey’s allowed on an 0-2 pitch in his career. In the 6th, Harvey allowed another home run to Brandon Belt, again on a 2-strike pitch.
Yes, Harvey is coming off of Tommy John surgery and yes, this is an extremely small sample size, but right now the problem isn’t that he’s in his third month since the surgery, it’s that he’s become more predictable and is simply not executing his pitches. This is the first time in his major league career, and maybe in his entire life as a pitcher, that Matt Harvey has faced adversity. Let’s see how he responds.
Just Mets 