Pitching coach Dan Warthen told Marc Carig of Newsday that he is “very skeptical” Harvey will be allowed to reach the 200 inning threshold that Sandy Alderson talked about last week. Warthen indicated that a more appropriate limit would be between 180 and 190 innings pitched.
“I would be very skeptical of 200 innings,” Warthen told the newspaper. “I don’t think we’re going to reach that number, but it would be very close. That’s at the high, high end.”
Warthen also said he believed Harvey could have pitched during the end of last season, but in retrospect he’s glad the Mets held off.
* * * * * * * *
Dan Warthen also told reporters that a decision on who will be the Mets Opening Day starter will have to be made by March 18.
The only starter who is not being considered is Matt Harvey who understands and is perfectly fine with the decision. Harvey will start one of the following four games.
“Matt will say the same thing: ‘I’m a good teammate. I plan on being the No. 1 guy for many years to come but right now I’m probably not the one that is deserving,’” Warthen said.
* * * * * * * *
On Monday, right-hander Zack Wheeler acknowledged to Mike Vorkunov of NJ.com that he dislikes defensive shifts and would prefer the Mets not employ them when he’s on the mound.
“I don’t want to piss anybody off but, honestly, I don’t like it,” he said. “Teams are starting to be more analytical these days. … I don’t like analytics all that much, but I’m not the boss here. I really can’t control it. They know where I stand on that.”
At a conference this weekend, Alderson asserted that the Mets stopped using a shift behind one of its pitchers. Wheeler saw the information relayed in a tweet that day and, when asked, told a reporter he guessed it might have been him and, indeed, it was.
Terry Collins said the Mets have reached an accord with Wheeler, who appreciated that they listened. While the numbers may be on their side, sometimes there are other considerations to be had.
“We said you’re right,” Collins said. “You’re too important not to have confidence on the mound. So we’ll make the adjustments.”
* * * * * * * *
Matt Harvey is excited at how good his curve has been post surgery. Harvey said, the curveball came easier to him, so he began throwing it more. He added that pitching coach Dan Warthen encouraged it because the curve places far less torque on his elbow than the slider.
“It’s a great combination to be able to throw a four-seam fastball up in the zone and come back with a curveball,” Warthen said. “The delivery, everything is repeating itself beautifully right now.”
“I always threw sliders,” said Harvey, who threw approximately four of them for every three curves in 2013. “It’s nice having that develop.”
Look for him to reverse the trend and throw 4:3 curve to slider this season which could be huge. Harvey’s curve was his top out pitch over his MLB career with a nearly 40 percent strikeout rate.
* * * * * * * *
Finally, and I know many of you will disagree with me, but Dan Warthen deserves a ton of credit for how all of our young pitchers have developed. He works tirelessly with all of them to bring out their best and many of them are exceeding expectations.
For too long he’s been at the butt end of jokes, but in fact he should be held in high esteem for what’s become a pitching renaissance in Flushing and the juggernaut that is fueling all this talk of playoffs.
A big MMO hat tip to Dan Warthen for a job well done.
