Matt Harvey has been the talk of the New York press lately – at least where the Mets are concerned. However, the papers and everybody who discusses them have been locked onto the fact that Harvey has been relieved of his duties as a starter and sentenced to the bullpen. Maybe he stays there for the rest of the season and maybe he bounces back to regain a spot in the starting rotation.
The underlying tone of everyone’s reaction is that Harvey was sent to the bullpen because his performance is subpar and lacking the results required of a starter. With the emphasis on relievers and the reduced workload of starters, one could make the case that Harvey is now in a position to be more of a commodity to the team than he was before.
Yes, every team values starters at a premium and expects them to eat up the majority of innings in a season. However, the Mets are atop the NL East standings and have done so without Matt Harvey contributing much to the team. He may receive less game action out of the bullpen, but if he can figure out his routine and get back to a respectable level of production, he could wind up a more valuable reliever rather than an average starter.
Andrew Miller was a highly coveted pitcher coming out of college and was the 6thoverall selection by the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 draft. He was a starter for the Tigers, Marlins, and Red Sox during his first six seasons, before Boston sent him to the bullpen. That is when his career really took off. He never had success as a starter like Harvey once had, but Miller figured out a way to make the bullpen work for him, and has become of the hottest commodities of the reliever revolution.
Mariano Rivera started ten games his rookie season with the New York Yankees. He eventually wound up in the bullpen (and a closer nonetheless) and went on to appear in 13 All-Star Games, retire as the MLB career saves leader, and will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Matt Harvey is not Rivera, but you never know how a change of scenery can affect someone.
The Mets want Harvey in the rotation. That is what he was brought up in the system to do and what he is accustomed to doing. His bullpen duties ensure he never really knows when he is going to pitch, but after two “good” seasons and two “bad” seasons, there isn’t guarantee Harvey will get back to his 2013 All-Star form. There is also no guarantee he will continue to give up hits and runs and skyrocket his ERA. So why not send him to the bullpen while he’s down and see if he can turn things around.
Harvey is a free agent after the season, so it is in his best interest to make this one of his best years yet. Obviously that has not been the case so far. It only takes a solid ending to a season to make a case for a large payday come the off-season. It is still May, but Harvey’s end goal could be to get back into form later in the season to capitalize on his contract negotiations for 2019 and beyond. Fans have developed a love-hate relationship with the Dark Knight; they know what good he is capable of but now they are seeing how low he can be.
Sometimes teams send pitchers to the bullpen because there is an overflow of starters at the Major League level (Brian Johnson and the Red Sox). Sometimes it is because the pitcher needs to work things out and is out of minor league options (Harvey). Either way, the bullpen may be viewed as a demotion, but it can be used to bolster an entire pitching staff top to bottom. That isn’t the case with Matt Harvey at the moment, but better for the Mets he figure things out an inning here and there with side sessions rather than every five days starting on the bump.
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