13
2013
Matt Harvey Finishes Strong In Mets 8-5 Loss To Nationals
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Nearly flawless in his last start, Matt Harvey took his lumps today, but on a positive note rebounded and regained control.
Harvey gave up a three-run homer to Washington’s Bryce Harper in the first inning, but rebounded to throw three scoreless innings and strike out six in an 8-5 loss.
Harvey settled down to retire 11 of the final 12 hitters against him; a very good sign for any pitcher let alone a young one after a rough start.
“I struggled there in the first inning, obviously. I think I came out a little too excited and needed to tone that down a little bit,’’ Harvey told reporters. “I made one bad pitch and it cost me three runs.’’
Harvey said he came out pumped in trying to atone for a three-homer rocking by the Nationals last year in spring training.
Bobby Parnell had a rough outing, giving up four runs in the seventh inning, which included a run-producing error by left fielderLucas Duda and RBI single by Harper.
Bright spots for the Mets included Collin Cowgill’s homer and scoreless relief innings from Robert Carson and LaTroy Hawkins. As of now, Cowgill seems to have the inside track in center field. Hawkins is expected to earn one of the bullpen spots. Carson, who was effective last year out of the pen in spots, could be the second lefty behind Josh Edgin.
METS MUSINGS: The Mets are expected to option catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud and infielder Wilmer Flores to the minor league camp by Friday. If a player on the 40-man roster is injured within 15 days of Opening Day they qualify for major league service time and pay, and must be placed on the disabled list until they are healed. It’s a financial risk the Mets will not take, especially since neither is expected to make the team. … The Mets are expected to name David Wright captain by the start of the season, joining Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter and John Franco. Wright is having a mammoth WBC with ten RBI in four games, including a grand slam. Hope he doesn’t get used to hitting with the bases loaded when he returns. If the USA goes the distance, Wright will be out of camp for another week. …Daniel Murphy is expected to get into a minor league game this weekend. He took live batting practice today. … It his hoped Kirk Nieuwenhuis will begin baseball activities Thursday. He’s been out with a bruised left knee sustained 10 days ago. … Jordany Valdespin, who was hit in the groin by a Justin Verlander pitcher yesterday, now vows to wear a cup. Smart guy.
About the Author: John Delcos
I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.
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Parnell….gives up a single, then gets 2 outs without giving up any runs and just can’t get that third out. Where have I seen this before?
Wasn’t all that confident he could take over the closer role but was willing to wait and see. Outings like today just guarantee I’ve got my stock of rolaids when he comes in.
Parnell is never gonna cut it. You can’t teach guts.
Yea I am all set with Parnell. He is a thrower not a pitcher.
Yeah because guts along with grit are make believe skills invented by lazy sports beat writers and columnists to try and quantify something they lack the ability to measure. What separates closers from middle relievers is ability and luck, nothing else.
a more wronger comment could never be made than the above fallacious statement. To completely ignore something as variable as the individual human qualities of each and every athlete is quite possibly the most ignorant comment a complete FOOL could ever make when discussing athletic competition. And especially athletic competition that requires interaction with other athletes.
Saber has bred a breed of fan that cannot be more ignorant, misguided, foolish, and flat out DUMB.
It’s 1 game. not worth freaking out over. If this outing in ST means that much, then shouldn’t all the other unscored upon ones count just as much?
looking at the box score, it looks like the hits were all singles, so they did not seem to be smoking him.
anyway, aren’t the best closers somehow only able to rise to the occasion in save situations? Or is that just conditioning, from seeing a string that seemed to be incapable of pitching when it wasn’t!
While I will agree that one outing in ST doesn’t decide much, if we’re counting on Parnell to come in as closer in the 9th, he’s got to do better than that. He’s going to be handed a < 4 run lead most times. He can't be putting men on base.
Now…this was in the 7th inning, not the 9th. He's been doing fairly well in the 9th but so far in ST in the 9th inning he might not have been facing ML caliber hitters. So I'm thinking Terry put him in early to get that kind of exposure. He didn't exactly rise to the occasion yesterday.
Long live my boy Edgin.
Most AVERAGE closers have the same issue….
The ELITEs do not but then again they usually get the last out on a K.
Parnell is not quite a K type Pitcher yet….
He could be but he needs to Pitch more than throw to accomplish that.
He has made great strides towards that since 2011.
If he takes another step then those secondary Pitches will start working better and those Ks will start to come.
His issue has always been his secondaries not working well for him and he would then try to throw a fastball by you which works sometimes and when it doesn’t it goes over the fence.
Dude-Ugh.
Am I missing something, this is Harvey’s last start with almost 2 weeks left in St?
Help my ignorance.
Yep – this is just one solitary spring training and it doesn’t mean jackshit. Harvey rebounded in terrific fashion and Parnell wasn’t pitching in the closer’s spot – he was working on some pitching sequences. That’s what spring training is for. Should Verlander be worried about an uneven start 2 days ago? Mah wooorrrd.
Duda is becoming something of a worry out there in left field.
If its my team today, I select Brown, Byrd, Cowgill, Den Dekker & Valdespin as my outfielders. Bias is toward team defense in the absence of an offensive standout. Still have faith that Andrew Brown will do great things.
I like Brown too still. seems to be the forgotten man though this spring.
but, I have said all along, don’t get too attached to anyone starting the season on the roster in the OF, because all of them are going to be on some sort of leash. Some shorter than others.
so if Brown ends up down in Vegas crushing the ball and throwing lasers, most likely he won’t be there for long!
very easy to see Duda and Byrd starting OD, and being replace by June.
and yes, your 5 guys definitely will have to earn their keep with the gloves, since odds are that group is not putting up a whole lotta offense!
Once again, Matt Harvey shows why he will be a major star in the NL for years to come. All pitchers will get rocked on occasion but Harvey did not let the bad inning get to him…