Keidel: This Isn't The Time To Rest Matt Harvey
By Jason Keidel
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Rumor is the Mets may ease off the pitching pedal this weekend, and nudge Matt Harvey off the mound before Sunday's scheduled start in Colorado.
But it's way too early to play or plan as if you're going to make the playoffs. Not with a four-game lead in August. Not when you've lost four of your last five games. Not with Harvey showing no signs of wear or tear. And not when you have the back-end of your rotation opening the weekend.
Harvey seems to be getting stronger as the season plows on. He would never ask for extra rest, and there's still no direct evidence that innings limits assure long-term health.
Sure, the Nationals seem to be imploding. Matt Williams is squirming on the hot seat, his every move tossed into the talk radio furnace. Despite the way he's bungled this season away, his GM has his back. At this rate, no job is safe in the nation's capital.
Max Scherzer, the preeminent pitching acquisition this season, was a monster for months. Until he wasn't. He lost again last, to the wretched Rockies, and had a 5.05 ERA in his previous eight starts.
But Washington has too many big-ticket players to assume they're stuck on .500 until October. And the Mets don't have the history, trust, or goodwill to toy with their rotation.
We can debate the merits of extra rest for days. We've seen the Joba Rules, among other misguided mantras. The benefit of being young is the capacity for greater and longer effort. So why sit Harvey just because it sounds good?
Also, the Mets don't have anything assured, don't have an insurmountable lead, and since no wild card will come from the NL East, win the darn thing first then worry about rest. Then trot out the best young, pitching triumvirate in the sport and see what happens.
Ask Washington about rest. In 2012, the Nationals sat young stud Stephen Strasburg for much of September and the entire playoffs. The Nats didn't even escape the first round, lost again in the first round last year, and are on the brink of becoming one of the grandest busts in baseball history.
If our pastime teaches us anything, it's the randomness of sports, and life. Though no sport is more tethered to statistics, baseball often flouts the orthodoxy. Wild card teams routinely reach and win the World Series, despite the perils of the one-game playoff. We've watched great teams tank and average teams soar. If someone told you in 2000 that the Yankees would win just one World Series over the next 14 years, you'd demand a drug test.
The Mets made their moves and scripted their mission statement in July. They are going for it. So go for it. Don't send mixed messages by bumping Harvey to another day. There's no time for retooling, reloading or reflection during the heat of a pennant race.
While all teams in all sports should plan for the future, draft deftly and develop young players, some teams, sometimes, should just go for it. The Mets are at such an axis. Fans have endured the defeatist, wait-till-next-year mantra for so long they may not have the spirit for another solemn winter.
Sitting Harvey on Sunday won't ruin the season. But the Mets are in a malaise, losing four of their last five, and should shut it down with pitching. Like Matt Harvey. On Sunday.
Follow Jason on Twitter @JasonKeidel
