The 2018 season has gone well for the New York Mets. The same, however, can not be said for the one-time starter, now reliever, Matt Harvey. And judging by a recent quote from general manager Sandy Alderson, the Mets are growing tired of their one-time Phenom.
While the Mets won Friday’s game against the San Diego Padres, Harvey struggled in relief duty. In one inning, he allowed a home run, walked another hitter, and struck out nobody. Normally, we wouldn’t think much of that, except that per a report from Ian Mohr of Page Six, Harvey was seen “stumbling around” drunk at a club opening in Los Angeles the night before.
But according to Alderson, this is just par for the course as far as the team is concerned.
Asked if he's upset about a Page Six report that had Matt Harvey out partying in Los Angeles the night before pitching in San Diego, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said:
"Usually I get upset if a report is unexpected. So I guess the short answer is no."
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) May 1, 2018
This is really not good for Harvey.
On occasion, players are going to go out and blow off some steam. They play every day for six months. It’s going to happen. It’s especially likely when they’re playing in (on in this case, near) a city like Los Angeles.
But when it becomes so frequent that its expected, it’s a problem. It’s also a problem when you go out at night and have a poor outing the next day. MLB history has seen plenty of players enjoy the nightlife (Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle are just two that come to mind). The problem comes when the partying gets in the way of the performance.
We don’t know if that’s what happened to Harvey. After all, pitchers can have bad days in ideal circumstances. The problem is that Harvey hasn’t earned much benefit of the doubt.
Harvey is a pending free agent. Even if his days as a starter are over, he can still get a big contract at season’s end. He has the kind of stuff to reinvent himself as a good reliever. But he has to really embrace his new role. That doesn’t seem to be happening yet. Based on Alderson’s comment, the Mets pretty obviously agree.