Matt Harvey missed mandatory workout, was stuck in traffic

As the team prepares for their first playoff series in a decade, Harvey no-showed at the Mets’ mandatory workout.

All players traveling to Los Angeles were accounted for at the Wednsday workout. “Obviously on the outside everybody is going to say any and everything about it. Regardless, he’s going to be ready to play for us”. He said he was stuck in traffic and claimed he apologized to teammates for not being there.

“We’re going to make sure Matt gets to the plane and gets on board, so he’ll be with us tomorrow to work out – I think”, manager Terry Collins joked, finally defusing a dicey issue with his best one-liners.

Collins said Harvey was fined and remains scheduled to start Game 3 against the Dodgers.

As far as game two goes, it will be the same scenario, different day for the Mets. If you don’t talk to Sandy Koufax or Bob Gibson or somebody like that, there’s really nobody else who’s on his level. With a combined regular season era under 2.00 this will be no simple task for the New York Metropolitans.

Perhaps Siri didn’t remind him that the team was meeting today, or maybe Harvey forgot to check his Google Calendar.

The Dodgers announced their rotation Tuesday a few hours after their workout, which featured a simulated game thrown by various pitchers, including Anderson and relievers Carlos Frias, Joel Peralta and Juan Nicasio. The entire pitching staff took part in fielding practice around noon, before making their way to the outfield to shag fly balls.

Matt Harvey has been under the media spotlight recently following comments made by his agent about Harvey’s availability to pitch in the postseason, considering the number of innings he’s already tossed this season, his first since Tommy John surgery.

Over his final five starts of the season, Harvey’s gone 2-1 with two no decisions but he hasn’t worked beyond the seventh inning and in his last four games the pitch count hasn’t exceeded 97. I believe the Mets have the most unsafe hitter of any NL team left in the playoffs, and maybe all of baseball in Yoenis Cespedes, but we all know the Dodgers are not going to let him beat us. Earlier in the month at Dodger Stadium, they had won a game Kershaw started when Syndergaard matched Kershaw’s one run allowed and the Mets scored in the ninth off Kenley Jensen.

Asked later about the incident, captain David Wright gave a clipped response. All three of them know what it’s like to be a kid playing in October.

“I’m concerned about the guys that are here”, Wright said. The former MVP has not always been that sharp in the postseason, however, and is 0-4 with a 7.15 ERA in his last four playoff starts – all against the St. Louis Cardinals.