Mets Manager Terry Collins Still Unsure If He'll Skip Matt Harvey Sunday
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mets general manager Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins have gone on record as saying that they're going to keep their young star pitchers on an innings limit.
Collins, however, has maintained that his three studs -- Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard -- will pitch down the stretch and in the playoffs, if New York gets there.
In an effort to keep the trio from reaching their respective innings limit prematurely, Collins has discussed using spot starters and going back to a six-man rotation. The experiment might begin on Sunday.
Harvey is scheduled to start again the Rockies, but he might be skipped.
Who will start in his place if Collins decides to give the 26-year-old some extra rest?
According to Mets.com, Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen will discuss how to proceed on Thursday.
"The only thing as a bearing is when you are going to do it," Collins said, according to Mets.com. "It doesn't matter if you are ahead or behind. There has to be a time frame of when you think is best. We've come up with an idea that we think is best, so we'll see if it works."
A logical option to make a spot start is right-handed pitcher Logan Verrett, who was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Tuesday. Verrett pitched a scoreless inning in New York's 5-4 loss in Baltimore on Wednesday night.
The Mets are hoping to get left-hander Steven Matz back on Sept. 1. Matz, on the disabled list with a partially torn lat muscle on his left side, was brilliant in the first two starts of his major league career earlier this summer. If he's healthy, he'll likely make some starts in the final month of the season.
"We are trying to decide," Collins said, according to the club's official website. "If we are going to skip guys, should we do it right away and then it's cleared up and we can get back in the routine? Or do we wait and pick a different time after Sept. 1, when we add the extra pitching?"
Harvey has pitched 154 innings in 2015. In his first season removed from Tommy John surgery, the Mets want to limit the former All-Star to 190 frames.
