The New York Mets have won nine of their past 11 games and now sit atop the NL East by 2.5 games over the Washington Nationals. Starter Matt Harvey has been the club's best pitcher (and one of the best in the MLB) since June, but the latest rumors suggest he could be shut down as he approaches his innings limit.
Harvey is 6-4 with a 2.21 ERA since the beginning of June and the right-hander has finally gotten back on track in his first season back from Tommy John surgery. He hasn't given up more than three earned runs in an outing in 10 straight starts and the Mets have won seven of those contests. However, how much longer will manager Terry Collins be able to use Harvey?
The 26-year-old has already tossed 148 innings this season and is rapidly approaching the innings limit the Mets enacted prior to the season (they don't want him exceeding 190 innings in his first full season since undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery). Harvey is probably going to make eight more starts before the season ends, which would allow him to pitch around five innings per outing before he's shut down for the season.
"This is a dangerous waltz the Mets are dancing. It worked out just fine against the Rockies, because the Mets added three runs in that eighth inning against a very bad team," writes Filip Bondy of the New York Daily News. "You just hope they don't do something stupid - something Nationals-like - and put Harvey on ice too soon, just when the division race grows red hot."
Collins is well aware of the pressing issue and hopes to silence the rumors.
"I will tell you this: We are going to do everything in our power to keep from shutting this guy down -- any of those guys down," Collins told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, referring to Harvey, [Jacob] deGrom and Noah Syndergaard as a group. "[Harvey's] on pace to get to his [limit] fast."
As for the other two, deGrom is one inning away from eclipsing his total from 2014 (he returned to action in 2012 after missing all of 2011 due to Tommy John surgery) and Syndergaard is a rookie who has never pitched more than 133 innings in a professional season (he's at 128 1/3 this season between Triple-A Last Vegas and the Mets). These situations create a lot of speculation in the Mets' organization and rumors are bound to spur regarding the status of these young pitchers.
But right now the focus is on Harvey. The return of Steven Matz at the end of August/beginning of September will allow the Mets to return to a six-man rotation and give Harvey a few breaks down the stretch to keep him fresh for the postseason. Additionally, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reported Rafael Montero pitched for Class A Advanced St. Lucie on Tuesday night while Zach Braziller of the New York Post mentioned the Mets could use "one or two spot starts" before Matz's return, with Dillon Gee and Logan Verrett as potential candidates to pitch those games. This is all good news in terms of the Mets' starting pitching depth with just under two months left in the 2015 season.
"Shaving one or two starts off Harvey's ledger should get him into more manageable territory innings-wise and leave him with something in the tank for the playoffs. Again, that's the plan," David Lennon of Newsday added.
So while the possibility of Harvey being shut down is very much alive, it's clear the Mets are strategizing to avoid having that happen as they make their push for the postseason. They'll be a scary team to face if their rotation in a five-game series starts with Harvey, deGrom and Syndergaard - assuming they can all still pitch by then.
