No Conforto, no Cuddyer, no Duda, no Granderson, no Murphy — no problem! The Mets jumped on top early and cruised to a 7-0 win over the Marlins Saturday night. With the win, the magic number drops to 23.
- Bartolo Colon was the star of the game, as he pitched a complete-game shutout, the first one of the year for the Mets. He now has 25 consecutive scoreless innings. And to top it all off, Colon made a highlight-reel play in the field, as he flipped a ball behind his back to record an out at first base.
- A four-run first inning was all the Mets would need. Travis d’Arnaud provided the big blast with a three-run homer and Wilmer Flores followed with a solo blast.
- Juan Lagares added a two-run homer in the second.
- The win was a much-needed one after the disappointing loss Friday and the continuation of the Matt Harvey debacle. Who knew that Harvey would be a villain and Colon a stopper?
I swear the baseball gods are screwing with me.
A Colon shutout? A Flores HR? Lagares HR? (well, maybe that’s not so unexpected as it was against a LH)
The Spring Training “B” travel squad manages to get the job done.
Hey Name, it’s good to see that you can have a laugh at your own expense. You’ve been kind of hard on Colon but he sure does have the knack for beating the bad teams. He’s been quite valuable as his younger pitching mates seem to be hitting a wall.
Good article by Lupica just came out. He’s tight with Jeff and is definitely providing the counter-spin for Sandy, who has some great quotes throughout. The best thing that Alderson does is he puts it all right back in Matt Harvey’s lap.
The sad but unfortunate truth is that baseball- and all of pro sports- is a business. Scott Boras has urged his client to not blow his arm out so Harvey will eventually cash in after 2018- and Boras will subsequently take 10-15% of the 150+ million Harvey receives.
Did Harvey want to pitch last September?
Yes.
Does Harvey want to pitch in the playoffs?
Most likely. After all, he thrived on the biggest stage of his career against the Nationals back in early August.
Does he care about the organization itself?
No.
Does he care about his teammates?
Most likely.
Does he want to be a Yankee someday?
Absolutely.
Ultimately Alderson is right, it will be up to Harvey. Colon is showing us that a postseason rotation that includes deGrom, Matz/Niese, Syndergaard, and himself might be serviceable. We will have our answer on Monday, and the answer will be either remembered forever or immediately forgotten.
Thanks for the tip on the Lupica article.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/lupica-matt-harvey-remembered-mets-ace-quit-article-1.2350197
It seems like the dwarf is not a fan of Boras…
Thanks for posting it Brian. Looks like Boras and Harvey are already back pedaling. Harvey would look nice in purple pinstripes with the Rocky Mountain background. Let’s see what contract Boras gets him then, especially with players wanting names like Big Game James, not Sit Down Matt.
I wonder if Harvey will sleep a wink tonight. The backlash has been brutal, but deserved.
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2015/9/5/9267781/matt-harvey-has-a-new-nickname-according-to-his-wikipedia-page
Checked it out myself, but don’t see any nickname attributed, not even his old one…
I’m shocked at Harvey. I wouldn’t want him on my company softball team, much less on a Major League team. Pitch him on Tuesday, or not, then send him home and tell him he’s not pitching if they make it to the post season. I know the money is a big deal with everyone, but as far as I can tell, the other players in baseball want a chance to win a championship above all else. Obviously, the money is more important to Harvey. And yes, I realize we are probably talking 100s of millions in his case. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a cancer, that they are better off without.
People say it’s about the money and I don’t believe that.
It’s about a long and healthy career.
He wants to pitch for the next 15 years.
I don’t blame him for having that desire. I just think he has really handled this about as poorly as possible.
The day Wilmer Flores cried on the field because he thought he was no longer a Met . . . and the fans opened their hearts to this player? This was the opposite of that.
Harvey and dehydration:
He says he is a “boozer” from big “boozing family” but has a “48 hour no booze before game” rule.
In his men’s journal interview, it was 2 hours before he mentioned baseball. He was pitching that night against the Yankees.
And let the character assassination begin.
To my mind, Matt Harvey has been one of the great competitors on the hill that I’ve ever seen.
But he does look a little puffy . . .
Sorry, I’m joking.
As fans, we full of emotions right now. It’s a good thing that Sandy Alderson is GM. He will handle this with a cool head.
I am not at all ready to start speculating on Matt Harvey’s drinking habits. That feels below the belt.
Still 5 games ahead and in first place !
What if Matz never pulled a lat muscle. Would the Mets have incorporated a six man rotation ? Would there have been Harvey teapot in a tempest ? If they didn’t go to a six man rotation then would Colon have been replaced in the rotation and ever given the chance to throw 25 scoreless innings ? Baseball is a strange game and only played between the lines.
TDA is looking like an all star catcher and a power bat in the lineup. Recker’s playoff roster spot is in jeopardy now that “Cousey” Colon has 17 of those scoreless innings with TDA. Plawecki is the better player over Recker.
TC did something innovative in starting an all right handed lineup based on his metrics vs Hand. I can’t agree that starting Campbell and EY (combined 1 for 6 with a run) was the difference. It would have been better to have Johnson and Conforto or Granderson to get some at bats vs lefties in preperation instead of two players that are not on the playoff roster.
Nice reminder about TDA being behind the plate a lot during Colon’s recent surge.
I’m glad TC got Granderson a day off. I wish Conforto would have been in the lineup but I’ve resigned myself to the fact he’s going to get almost no opportunities versus LHP the rest of the way.
Now it’s time to win and take a road series.
I’ve been apoplectic about TC’s stance to never start Conforto against LHP. I hate it with every fiber of my being. It’s so small-minded, I can barely breath thinking about it.
But in the case of last night’s lineup, I understood. He had gone 0-6 the night before and it was not the ideal time to put that challenge on his plate. Of course, that’s not why TC made the decision.
From the beginning of the “new roster,” I was concerned that TC might get too strict in his platoon thinking. The LH lineup, the RH lineup, and so on. I hoped that it might gradually loosen up over time. He also never seems to recognize reverse splits or trends that might go against expectations. Reed vs. LH-hitters, for example.
On the other hand, he’s done a masterful job of keeping everyone involved and fresh and active. Each player is a functioning part of this pennant drive, and the platoon strategy is a big part of that success.
Managing isn’t easy.
An idea I read somewhere: pull Harvey from the rotation right now, Matz takes his place and Harvey becomes the 7th inning guy. Then presumably the team would recall Verrett, there being no issues with the roster since it’s September, to fill in one or two starts to give Noah and DeGrom a blow. Let Varrett get those starts against Atlanta or Philadelphia; I doubt the team would miss their stars so much against those two teams, both of whom are on pace to lose 95+.
It could actually fill a team need, and it would remind Matt Harvey who is in charge of player deployment. The end of the season, however far the Mets make it, would be the time to suggest that Harvey speak with J. D. Drew and Stephen Strasburg, get their thoughts on how their agent-directed career moves worked out for them.
Yes, the Nats went along with the shutting down of Strasburg, but I have to believe the directive came from Boras, don’t you?
Harvey, like Matz will not be a reliever given the arm injury (TJ). Collins made it clear that will not occur for pitchers who’s total prep is centered on starting.
Rumors this morning and even last night (as told to both Puma and Rubin) are that he will pitch into the playoffs and that they are devising some plan to make that happen. Regardless, the reputation damage Harvey has done to the fans and the club is irreversible. Rubin has even mentioned this morning that he would not be surprised to find him being traded this winter.
The Nats had the shut down plan in place early in the season and never wavered. Strasburg wanted to pitch beyond. I read a tweet by Jerry Hairston Jr last night who said Stras did not want to stop, and that he was disappointed in Harvey’s comments.
The world around Harvey has changed.
Yes, I think all of that is true.
When we get beyond the emotion, we might conclude that it would be best to keep Harvey around for another year of fabulous pitching. He is, after all, a great pitcher.
To me, he’s become Roger Clemens. I can respect the talent, but he can’t have my heart.
Even Adam Rubin is now saying he would not be surprised to find him traded. That’s all over the tabs this morning too. Harvey will not come back to a very welcoming NY.
It’s going to be very ugly. I have read that one uses the same passions for love as he/she does for hate. It’s a very fine line. The passionate the love, the more passionate the hate will be.
And to the people who said, why not wait first to see what happens, I reply: If your wife one day “out of the blue” says she wants a divorce, do you wait until she files to be upset?