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Palladino: Harvey's Mental State Goes Beyond Horrendous Numbers

By Ernie Palladino
» More Ernie Palladino Columns

It's hard to call any game in May a make-or-break deal.

But Matt Harvey's start Tuesday in Washington comes awfully close. As much from a mental as physical standpoint, Harvey needs to pull himself out of the horrendous rut he's in with a good, solid outing against the team that rocked him for nine runs in 2 2/3 innings last Thursday.

It's just where he's at right now, and that place goes far beyond the 3-6, 5.77 numbers he's put up in nine starts this season. In the course of the last two starts, in which he has allowed 14 runs and 19 hits, he has turned from a pitcher fighting through early-season struggles to a team-wide worry.

MOREStruggling Harvey To Make Next Scheduled Start For Mets

And his mental state has as much to do with that as anything.

Saturday's simulated game proved the depth of his teammates' concern over his current troubles. Events like Harvey's 25-minute session usually draw only the manager and pitching coach, since they make the decisions. The fact that a large cluster of teammates joined Terry Collins and Dan Warthen on the field to watch Harvey throw against right-handed Matt Reynolds and left-handed assistant Tom Goodwin took this session beyond the typical fine-tuning aspects.

On the surface, having his teammates out there could be interpreted as a positive. There's nothing wrong, after all, with a show of solidarity toward a popular clubhouse figure as he tries to figure things out.

On the flip side, though, the need for such a show indicates a disturbing feeling that the growing maelstrom surrounding Harvey has begun to affect him between the ears. For all the bravado Harvey has shown in the past -- from talking himself back into the ninth inning of World Series Game 5 to Friday's demand to get back on the mound ASAP after Thursday's shelling -- Harvey may be on the verge of buckling under the increasing pressure.

As hard a concept as that is to accept considering Harvey's competitive nature, the heat has grown almost unbearable; far hotter than if Harvey's last effort involved the series of middle-inning bloops and bleeders that had victimized the right-hander before then. His last flop was anything but that, given the number of bullets the Nationals sent flying over, under, and off the gloves of his fielders from the get-go.

It got bad enough that a couple of unnamed scouts implied that Harvey probably needed to become more man-about-gym than man-about-town.

Those appraisals had to hurt the Dark Knight.

Collins' fleeting thoughts of skipping over his next start or, worse, sending him to the disabled list for an extended rest probably stung just as much. Collins smartly backed off those plans once Harvey came to him Friday.

Imagine what a trip to the DL with no apparent physical ailment would have done to his psyche.

But even as Harvey's competitive fires flared during that Friday meeting, Collins must believe that his ace needs some extra mental care. Hence the near-private conditions that surrounded Saturday's simulated game.

Reporters were banned from the pre-game dugout.

Warthen used a back entrance to the clubhouse once the session ended.

And Harvey blew off all inquiries.

These were not the signs of a bulldog straining at the leash. The fact that his teammates felt the need to add their own show of support proved that Harvey's mental state now sits on the edge of an ever-widening rabbit hole.

Another shelling Tuesday could potentially send him plummeting into a mental Wonderland and turn Collins' musing over a DL-ing into a necessary option.

On the other hand, a good, strong outing could pull him right out of his slump.

Harvey has to know this much, though. His teammates are pulling for him.

But the fact that they had to make a show of it Saturday indicates how black a place the Dark Knight's mind resides in at this point.

That's a bigger problem than the mechanics.

Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino

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