Matt Harvey To Pitch Half-Outings To Remain Sharp

The right-hander, at the center of the storm over innings limits and his availability in the playoffs, will be limited to shorter starts – likely five inning – in his starts from here on out. “We have to have Matt Harvey ready to pitch”, Collins said. “We have to be cognizant of the innings situation”.

“The motivation for using Harvey more frequently but for shorter durations is to keep him sharp for the postseason while keeping his innings count in check”, Rubin added.

“We’ve got to make sure this guy is ready to pitch if we get in the postseason”.

Michael Cuddyer (wrist) is available to start, but Collins is holding off until Monday when the team is slated to face a lefty. “But it won’t be real deep in the game”. So the difficulty of it all?

“Wish I had more of a plan”, Collins continued. No one has any answers because I think this is something that’s pretty unusual to happen at this time of year to your starting rotation.

If the Mets head into the final series against the Nationals still needing to clinch the division, an unlikely scenario right now, Harvey will pitch without a limit in that final series.

“We’ll see where I am after that, but it’s feeling better”, Torres said. However, this is Harvey’s first season since undergoing Tommy John surgery and his doctors (as well as many others who have Major League Baseball pitchers as patients) are keen on innings limits to avoid overworking the surgically repaired elbow.

“I haven’t had a discussion with Scott”, Collins said.