Mack’s Morning Report – 5-26-16 – Matt Harvey, Wilmer Flores, Rene Rivera, Steven Matz

Good morning

The press does seem to be piling on  Matt Harvey.

Here’s one example from  Marc Carig -

Matt Harvey sat in his manager’s office last week and asked for another chance. He couldn’t promise that his fastball would sizzle or that his slider would bite. He couldn’t guarantee what his arm would produce from pitch to pitch.

This, of course, has been at the crux of his demise.

The embattled righthander nevertheless flashed his trademark brashness and insisted on the opportunity to pull himself from his tailspin. But when his chance came Tuesday night, and he got used as a piñata in the Mets’ 7-4 loss to the Nationals, Harvey left others to answer for the latest chapter in his free fall.

Mack – An anti-Harvey story is an easy thing to write right now. Hell, I’ve been writing about him for three straight days.

Here is an especially pathetic effort by  Mike Vacarro -

                  The headline tells everything –

                  “Silent Matt Harvey confirms he’s the phony Mets have enabled”

                  The joke, of course, is that any of this would be remotely surprising by now. The Mets have abided by the Harvey Rules from Day 1, have tread lightly around him, have allowed him the kind of leeway and latitude that should never be afforded someone with 75 career starts, no matter how promising he used to be.

So why wouldn’t he duck and run now?

Why wouldn’t he leave it for his manager and his teammates to answer for him, to speak on his behalf, after another humbling bell-ringing at the hands of the Nationals, another night when he was less Dark Knight than Pale Pawn, another night when he couldn’t recapture even a fraction of the old magic?

Mack – You know my long time stance on Mets writers on basic liberal newspapers. They are no better than the folks that report on Donald Trump on the new York times.

I hope Matt saves a copy of these stories and taped them to his locker so, when the next time one of these little, non-athletic people come sucking up to him for a quote, he can point to the article and tell them to do something to themselves that is physically impossible.

I’ll tell you one thing… if Harvey comes back and becomes the All-Star pitcher he once was, working with these mutants is going to be a big factor before he signs any extension with this team.

Brian P. Mangan ‏@brianpmangan - deGrom can pitch with diminished velocity. Harvey can not. Does this speaks volumes about how seriously they each take their profession?

Mack – Brian makes a good point here. deGrom’s velocity has been down this year but he has learned to mix his pitches and aim for the corners. Harvey doesn’t seem to have that ability (confidence?) this year to do the same. He’s no longer a four-pitch starter.

Update – Terry Collins announced prior to the posting here that Collins will stay in the rotation and make his next start, scheduled to be against the White Sox.

Wilmer Flores is currently rehabbing and can’t return soon enough. The loss of Lucas Duda and Travis d’Arnaud, limited availability of David Wright, and lack of return from Ty Kelly, Eric Campbell, and Kevin Plawecki is simply putting too much pressure on the rest of the healthy ‘bats’ in the lineup.

The plan is for him to return this weekend. On ‘my team’, he would immediately become my first baseman and bat sixth in the lineup.

I would be much happier with one more healthy big bat, but I don’t know who I would trade to get someone to help. I still think the number one need is a good defensive catcher that can hit in the.250 range.

Here are the catchers on the current MLB top 100 prospect list –

        #91 – Jorge Alfaro – Philadelphia

                  Hit: 40 | Power: 60 | Run: 45 | Arm: 70 | Field: 50

                  2016 – AA: .351, 3-HR, 21-RBI, .366-OBP                 

        #93 – Reese McGuire – Pittsburgh

                  Hit: 50 | Power: 40 | Run: 45 | Arm: 60 | Field: 60

                  2016 – AA: .263, 1-HR, 14-RBI, .368-OBP

The first problem in finding a decent catcher that can both hit and throw out runners is there just isn’t that many in baseball. There’s only two on the top 100 prospect list and, frankly, neither one of those two scream off the page.

I have to tell you… I was very impressed with catcher Rene Rivera’s throw to second base yesterday in the third inning. Would it kill us to insert him into the starting lineup for the next 7-10 days and see if he could raise his .100 batting average enough to make his defensive skills a ++ to this lineup?

It will be interesting to see how the Mets line up their rotation after extended time off on the all-star break. It’s obviously that Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz represent the current 1-2 punch in the rotation. Matz has definitely earned that role.

Matz last pitch to Harper… 93 slider