Logan Verrett: Verrett headed down after Sunday’s start

Determined to keep Matt Harvey’s innings in check in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, the New York Mets will skip his scheduled start Sunday against the Colorado Rockiesat Coors Field.

With Harvey’s innings being limited in his first season back from Tommy John surgery the Mets have constantly been evaluating how to keep Harvey in the range they want while not having to shut him down for an extended stretch. Verrett has made 78 minor league starts including nine this season.

The Mets have a very young rotation that is going to be entering uncharted waters when it comes to innings pitched. But Matz is likely to need two more minor-league starts, the next one coming at Double-A Binghamton, and the Mets wanted to skip Harvey before September.

Whether or not the Mets win on Sunday without Harvey starting, there’s a chance that skipping his start will pay dividends for the remainder of the season. However, skipping one of his starts is a necessary measure to ensure Harvey doesn’t throw too many innings during the regular season, especially since he’s averaged roughly 6.2 innings per start this year.

Harvey would have been facing one of the worst teams in the majors Sunday but Collins said that the quality of opponent did not influence the decision.

“If we’re going to do it, if this guy is going to get skipped, let’s do it right now”, Collins said to Puma. Harvey has thrown 154 innings this season, well on his way to the “soft” ceiling that GM Sandy Alderson has set as a limit that is believed to be between 185-195 innings. “I kind of preferred it be sooner rather than later. And I don’t want to do it in September, so I’m doing it now”. Collins suggested Harvey had been dealing with arm fatigue of late, although the right-hander’s results appeared unimpacted. “If we are going to do it and this guy is gonna get skipped, let’s do it right now”, Mets manager Terry Collins said. He has a 0.43 ERA in 21 innings over three starts in August.

“I think it’s a good time”, Harvey said. “It did affect me a little bit”, Colon, speaking through a translator, said of his wrist, which was badly swollen.

If the Rockies beat up Verrett, that might not be true for the Mets.

The plan for the Mets is to go to a six-man rotation in September once again when Steven Matz returns to the rotation. “I don’t think the rest is going to hurt”. Collins didn’t say when that would be but said Syndergaard would start as scheduled Tuesday at Philadelphia.