Harvey must get with program if he’s going to turn it around
ST. LOUIS — Life is always a work in progress. Right now Matt Harvey’s ego is bruised.
You could see it in the way he walked out to join his teammates for pregame stretches Tuesday night at Busch Stadium. He was there but he really wasn’t.
For Harvey to get back to the starting rotation — the Mets’ rotation or anyone else’s — he needs to prove one thing: He can be aggressive and throw strikes.
First he has to accept his new bullpen role.
Be where your feet are. Enjoy the journey. That is so much easier said than done for all of us. No one likes to be demoted and, let’s face it, that’s what has happened to Harvey. He has been taken out of the starting rotation by Mickey Callaway and pitching coach Dave Eiland and has been tossed into the bullpen.
But he has not been tossed aside. Not yet.
The Dark Knight and his 6.00 ERA can rise again in a different way, but he must want to rise. He must first want to accept the new challenge and we shall see how that goes as Harvey was in the bullpen Tuesday with the chance to appear in a game as a reliever after 104 starts in 105 appearances. Zack Wheeler was the starter versus the Cardinals and Luke Weaver.
Get with the program, Matt.
If he is salvageable he’s salvageable. Figure it out like Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman figured it out in the bullpen, like Wheeler did in Las Vegas. Be aggressive, throw strikes.
You’ve entered the NCA zone. No Coddling Allowed. Harvey can’t talk his way back into the rotation like he talked his way back out on the mound in Game 5 of the World Series with Terry Collins.
There is a new sheriff in town and Harvey has to abide by the same rules as everyone else.
“Nobody wants to come out of the starting rotation,’’ Callaway said before the game. “It’s a tough thing to accept as a player, but he accepted it and he’s going to get the job done. You’re going to see Matt Harvey start again, so he is probably going to do well.’’
Callaway said Harvey received the same message that Lugo and Gsellman got when they went to the bullpen.
“Very similar,’’ he began. “Go out there and attack hitters with your best stuff. Those guys really embraced it and are doing a good job. Both of those guys have realized what a difference in routine it is. Probably Lugo to more of an extent than Gsellman.
“When you talk to Gsellman he’s more of a reliever anyway, and Lugo is going to go dig into the information and stuff,’’ Callaway said. “So it’s going to take some time. You still see Lugo come in and maybe walk the leadoff batter, but once he settles in he has great, electric stuff coming out of the pen. We’ll see how Matt Harvey does with it.’’
Yes we will.
“I think everybody should know we are not just going to hand out starting jobs because you are a starter,’’ Callaway said. “You have to go out and get the job done, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with having that pressure on you because there’s going to come a time where, if we do something special and get where we want to get, the pressure is going to be really bad. If you can’t handle making starts because there are other people that can start, how are you going to pitch in the playoffs and win us a game?’’
Strong words indeed. True words.
“It makes you a better player and it makes you a better person in the long run,’’ Callaway said.
There you have it. Cards are on the table. As Eiland noted, “We are here to win ballgames. This may be the best thing for Matt.’’
It is what it is. It is about performance now, not past history or future free agency.
Matt Harvey needs to be where his feet are from this day forward.