Mets' Collins On Fuss Over Rotation: 'Matt Harvey Doesn't Really Care'
JUPITER, Fla. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Bartolo Colon, not Matt Harvey, has been picked to start the New York Mets' opener at Washington on April 6.
Harvey is returning from elbow ligament-replacement surgery that has sidelined him since August 2013. Colon was 15-13 with a 4.09 ERA last year and at 41 will become the oldest opening-day starting pitcher in the major leagues since April 2006, when 43-year-old Jamie Moyer was on the mound for Seattle and 42-year-old Randy Johnson for the New York Yankees.
The decision was panned by many online and in sports talk radio.
"It's just one start," Mets manager Terry Collins said Monday. "I know it's a big deal to a lot of people. To me it's not. It's one of 32 starts. You go back and look at what Bart did all season long, he earned it."
Collins said he decided not to start Harvey because of the long layoff.
"Coming in, one of the things we talked about was listen, you earn that spot," Collins said. "You earn that spot from what you did the previous year, and he didn't pitch, so we're going to go with somebody that's there. That's no disrespect to Matt at all. He is our ace. We know it. He knows it. I told him he's going to pitch a lot of big games this summer, and they all count."
"Over his career, he's going to pitch a lot of opening days," he added. "But Matt Harvey doesn't really care. The whole philosophy is we've got to beat the Washington Nationals. That's the team we've got to go after. ... So we just thought going into that series those would be the three guys we'd like to face them, and we put them in that order."
Colon will be making his seventh opening-day start after taking the mound for Cleveland (2000-02) and the Angels (2004-06). He will become the Mets' oldest opening-day starting pitcher at 41 years, 317 days, topping Tom Glavine at 41 years, 7 days in 2007.
"It's always an honor to start on opening day," Colon said in a statement, according to the Mets' official website. "Anyone on the staff could have been named the opening day starter. I'm looking forward to it. I think we've got a chance to have a great season and I want to do my part."
NL Rookie of the Year Jacob DeGrom is slated to start the second game and Harvey the third. DeGrom lines up to start the home opener against Philadelphia on April 13.
"I thought Jake deserved it," Collins said. "I thought he deserved the chance to pitch a big game."
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