Keidel: Getting Bent About Harvey Not Starting Opening Day Is Ridiculous
By Jason Keidel
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We need some action, some rain in the dry season, the fleeting moments before baseball really begins.
There's been a two-month dead zone between the Super Bowl and opening day, and now that we're on the cusp of real spring, real baseball, we're rabid, hunting phantom drama.
Like the debate about Matt Harvey not starting the season in Washington.
Some fans are dizzy behind the declaration that the hefty righty, Bartolo Colon, will be the first pitcher the Mets trot out in 2015. A wince is fine, a jerk of the head or hands is acceptable. But a throaty call for rebellion just isn't warranted.
You won't find too many Terry Collins apologists (including here), but his reasoning was sound enough to satisfy the more logical masses: You start opening day in one year based on what you did the prior year.
And it's fine with the person who was allegedly humiliated, Matt Harvey. It doesn't impact his potentially stellar career, nor does it preclude him from being the ace of the staff, face of the franchise, or the NL starter in the All-Star game.
But Mets fans are so colossally frustrated that any move that jars their old-world sensibilities becomes a controversy. We equate first starter with best starter, ignoring the fact that Harvey didn't pitch last year.
Even if you take the most jaded view of the team and its manager, ask yourself what either have to gain by burying Harvey into the back end of the initial rotation. They are, despite your protestations, trying to protect a young star who hasn't pitched in earnest since 2013.
It gets pretty cold during the first month of the season. It was 27 degrees at 9 a.m. on Tuesday and we're just a week from April. So the secondary logic of keeping Harvey's divine right arm warm is also sound.
How many times have you heard the baseball cliche that the season is a marathon, not a sprint? If you buy that -- and why wouldn't you -- then what difference does it make if Harvey starts on April 6 or April 9?
And let's be painfully candid. Harvey is 12-10 over his career. Granted, his 2.39 ERA warrants more wins, but we're not talking about Tom Seaver or even Doc Gooden circa 1986. Maybe Harvey becomes the preeminent pitcher in Mets history, but he hasn't done enough to be grandfathered into opening day.
Not to mention if he were opening the season, you'd have to jump on a metroliner to D.C. to see him pitch. Too many people are swathed in the symbolism of it, not the reality of it. When 2015 is entered into the archives, the matter of Matt Harvey vs Bartolo Colon, on the road, in April, will not ring too many historical bells.
And don't the Mets and their fans have more important concerns and goals? You're talking about a team that has plunged down the rungs of relevance, both in baseball and in Gotham. For the first time in a long time, the Mets are poised to commandeer the back page, make themselves more essential than the Yankees, who are losing their identity by the day.
The larger, more relevant issue is winning. Will the Mets do enough of it? Having Harvey, no matter when he starts, will nudge the needle toward the affirmative.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
