After throwing a couple of improved starts as of late, it was thought that the “Dark Knight,” Matt Harvey, may have righted his ship. In Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to Atlanta he regressed against a weak Braves lineup.
Harvey threw 5.2 innings while allowing three runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out four in an uneven performance. He dropped his record to 2-4, while keeping his ERA at 4.76. What could be wrong with Matt Harvey, as his struggles continue?
“Right now I’m not feeling good with my mechanics. I’m not feeling good throwing the ball,” Harvey said. “It’s frustrating. I think I’ve said it before: I’m the one who is most frustrated here about what’s going on. It’s been a frustrating start, but we have a long way to go.” (ESPN)
Harvey has tried to put in extra work in-between starts in order to keep sharp. He has continued to work with pitching coach, Dan Warthen, in order to fix whatever it is in his game that has been ailing him in the 2016 season.
“I’m putting in so much work during the week that maybe I’m doing too much. Maybe I’m not,” Harvey said. “At this point there’s a lot of questions, and a lot of answers I’m kind of looking for. I’m out there feeling for every pitch, and it’s frustrating. I’m going through one of those times right now where everything feels different. Being on the mound, it’s tough. … I’ve looked at so much video that there’s only so much you can look at. You’ve just got to find it, and it starts tomorrow.”
Harvey, who normally averages a fastball in the 96-97 MPH range, was only hovering around 93 last night. It leads many to believe that there could be something wrong, but manager, Terry Collins, does not think that’s the case.
“He hit 95 tonight a couple of times and might have even hit 96 once or twice,” Collins said. “Because he usually pitches at 96, 97, we think there’s something wrong. And I’m not sure there is. He and [pitching coach Dan Warthen] are trying to straighten out a couple of things. He’s throwing quite a bit on the side to try to get a feel for his release point and a feel for what they’re trying to do. It doesn’t just happen overnight.”
Harvey was said to be sick and in need of fluids before the game Tuesday night in order to make it through his start. He faltered in the sixth inning yet again, as it seems to be the hump that he has been unable to get over so far this year. Numerous times this season he seems to cruise til he reached the fifth and sixth innings. At this point he seems to hit a wall that he has been unable to break through thus far. He currently owns a 6.00 ERA in the fifth inning, with an alarming 20.25 ERA in the sixth. Matt downplayed any thought that his sickness contributed to tonight’s downfall.
“It’s not feeling good with my mechanics, not feeling good on the mound,” he said. “That’s the tough part. That’s what’s frustrating. Right now I’m just waiting to figure it out. Like I said, I’m the one who is most frustrated here.”
Of the 18 earned runs he’s allowed this season, 13 of them have come across the fifth and sixth innings. Harvey makes it sound as it’s nothing but a current mental flaw in his game. Something he has been unable to correct through the first month of the season. There is plenty of time to right the ship for the star pitcher, it is just curious to wonder if there may be something more wrong than is being let on by Harvey.
