Just Mets

The Mets have tried at various points during the first half of the season to implement a six-man rotation so to limit the innings of their young starters, protect the recently surgically repaired elbow of Matt Harvey, and preserve the stamina of the aging Bartolo Colon.

However, in the first three instances the Mets attempted to use a six-man rotation, the sixth starter didn’t pitch well and it seemingly affected the performance of some of the other starting pitchers as well.

To date, Harvey has been the most vocal of any of the starting pitchers regarding displeasure over the six-man rotation. However, others have spoken about having to adjust to the conditions of a six-man rotation, which include an extra day of rest, potentially pitching with one or more off-days in between, rust issues, and more.

Harvey made some more comments about the six-man rotation after his uneven start against Los Angeles on Saturday.

“With the six-man and then the day off, throwing last Saturday and then this Saturday is tough,” Harvey said. “We’re all having to deal with it. It’s not an excuse why things didn’t go well today. I just have to do a better job of finding a way to get a rhythm throughout an extended period of rest like that.”

But the Mets plan on sticking with this six-man rotation through at least the end of July (hello, trade deadline), so Collins has a message for his pitchers about the decision.

“They’ve got to get over it,” Terry Collins said before Sunday’s game against the Dodgers.

Collins did offer an alternative for Harvey (in a joking manner) to the six man rotation.

“I guess the best way to say it is, ‘Matt, we’ll go back to a five-man, but I hope you enjoy watching the rest of the season sitting on the bench in September when we need you.’

“We’ve got to make the adjustment, and Matt knows that,” Collins concluded.

Collins joked that Harvey can go pitch for the Brooklyn Cyclones if he wants to make sure he stays sharp during the All-Star break.

The problem with this, again, is while the six-man rotation has good intentions, it is only going to work if the pitchers actually pitch well. If this is the plan, the coaching staff and the pitchers have to make the necessary adjustments, especially if they’re going to use it with an off-day or two through one or more turns. Those adjustments are clearly more than physical for these pitchers. As Collins said, they have to get over their gripes about the situation, but there’s also dealing with the extra idle time, making use of it productively, and going from there.

So far, Harvey clearly has had trouble doing that, perhaps more so mentally than physically. He has a 3.18 ERA with six or more days of rest this season, just a few points higher than his 3.11 ERA for the year. His career ERA with six or more days of rest is 1.41.