Matt Harvey Banished to Bullpen
The Mets have banished struggled starter Matt Harvey to the bullpen. Everyone knew it was going to happen except Harvey.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, obviously I’m at a 10 with being pissed off, but my performance hasn’t been there, and I just have to do whatever I have to do to get back in the starting rotation,” Harvey said. “And that’s right now go to the bullpen and work on some things, get some things back to where they need to be and get my s**t in order and figure it out.
“It’s the decision that they made,” he added. “I don’t have to agree with it.”
After Harvey’s latest poor start, he proclaimed that he was a starter. End of discussion. The Mets apparently didn’t agree, what with his 6.00 ERA in four starts thus far. That follows last season’s atrocious 6.70 ERA.
“I don’t think he is obviously very happy about it. I wouldn’t say he’s discouraged. I think he’s motivated to go out there and show everybody that he can be a starter again at some point,” Mickey Callaway said. “It’s inevitable that he’s going to make more starts for us this year. That’s how baseball goes. Everybody uses tons of starters; 11 was the average last year for every team.”
It was obviously the right decision. But what bothers me is that Harvey is being bumped to make room for Jason Vargas. I mean, who is Jason Vargas? Why is this journeyman who has never brought anything to the organization getting preferential treatment? Because Sandy Alderson overpaid for him and thus owes him a spot in the rotation to justify the poor signing?
If you want to move Matt Harvey to the bullpen, move Seth Lugo or Robert Gsellman into the rotation. At least they earned it with solid performances so far this season. What has Jason Vargas done except collect paychecks for doing nothing?
In any case, most Mets fans are rooting for Harvey to straighten himself out and become the Dark Knight we all knew and loved. Those days might be over, but he still can be a serviceable starter and a key piece in what could be a special season.