The New York Mets are being careful with starting pitcher Matt Harvey as he approaches his limit of 190 innings for the 2015 season. Harvey, who missed all of 2014 due to Tommy John surgery, is already at 154 innings on the year.
The right-hander will not make his scheduled start on Sunday against the Colorado Rockies, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. Logan Verrett will make his first MLB start instead, which could now spur rumors regarding Harvey's status for the rest of the way.
"The Mets right-hander will be skipped in the rotation Sunday as team officials look to reduce his workload, but he has been told he shouldn't have to worry about missing further starts for the remainder of the regular season and beyond," Puma added.
Puma also noted Steven Matz is closer to making his return to the Mets' rotation, but if New York hopes to continue their postseason push and actually succeed if they make it there, it's a foregone conclusion they will need Harvey on the roster. He's 11-7 with a 2.57 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 23 starts this season and only Jacob deGrom (12-6, 1.98 ERA) has been better than him on the team's staff.
"In deciding to skip Matt Harvey for his start on Sunday, the Mets aren't wrong here. But it doesn't mean they're right either," writes John Harper of the New York Daily News.
"That's the great unknown everyone in baseball faces in dealing with the subject of innings limits in an era when Tommy John surgeries seem to be more common than the common cold.
"Nobody knows how many innings are too many, especially after such a surgery, or if strict limits matter at all."
With 40 games remaining in the 2015 season, Harvey should have six or seven starts remaining depending on how the team handles him down the stretch. While skipping his starts now is definitely more prudent than doing so in September - which is when the division race with the Washington Nationals will heat up - he's still about 30 innings (give or take a few) from being shut down (based on the Mets' offseason plan). General manager Sandy Alderson did say he could see Harvey eclipsing 200 innings if the team reached the postseason, but that would only give him about two starts in the playoffs.
So what are the Mets going to do, especially if they also skip a few of Noah Syndergaard's starts?
If Harvey doesn't miss any more starts he will surely exceed that innings limit and be shut down. They could use him in shorter outings to help keep him ready for October ... if their bullpen wasn't now a liability.
The Mets' rotation has been one of the best in the MLB this year, but now mystery looms as the season hits the home stretch. The postseason rotation of deGrom, Harvey and Syndergaard once sounded like a force to be reckoned with. Now there's a chance it may not even exist for their entire playoff run if team officials look to preserve the long-term health of Harvey and Syndergaard.
