Francesa: How Much Longer Can Mets Stick With Harvey When He Gives You 'A Game You Can't Win'?
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- The Mets' decision to keep Matt Harvey in the rotation is very surprising, WFAN's Mike Francesa said Wednesday.
Mets manager Terry Collins announced earlier in the day the struggling right-hander will make his next scheduled start Monday against the White Sox.
"I thought that all signs pointed to them shutting him down," Francesa said to open his show. "I'm very surprised they didn't shut him down. I'll be very surprised if things get better quickly right now if they don't shut him down. So this is one way to go, but the question you have to start to answer is, how many times do you allow him to give you a game you can't win?"
Harvey is coming off his third consecutive disastrous outing. In a 7-4 loss to the Nationals on Tuesday, he allowed five runs on eight hits, including three homers, over five innings.
"It could not have been worse," Francesa said. "It was utterly disappointing. He clearly didn't handle it. He clearly has no toughness left. There's no attitude."
For the season, last year's National League Comeback Player of the Year is 3-7 with a 6.08 ERA.
Francesa said the fact that the Mets are playing well otherwise likely played a factor in sticking with Harvey longer.
"Obviously the point is, 'Hey, we're winning enough games that we can continue to at least experiment right now,'" Francesa said. "So if they were losing, if they hadn't won four games in a row going into that game last night, it would have been a completely different answer than you got."
Harvey left the clubhouse Tuesday night without speaking to reporters. Francesa did not take him to task for that, but he did call the move an "absolute, absolute sin."
"When you pitch like that, you cannot leave your young catcher (Kevin Plawecki) to answer the questions," he said.
