Dose: Harvey Hysteria
Talk about a 180.
Once upon a time, Matt Harvey was the ace of a staff headed to the postseason. While October baseball is still in the Mets’ future, it’s unclear if Harvey will be joining them.
Now that players are being monitored more closely than ever, it’s not uncommon for teams to establish innings limits for pitchers coming off major injuries. Stephen Strasburg was famously shut down in 2012 after undergoing Tommy John surgery the year before.
It was frustrating when the Nationals pulled the plug on Strasburg because they were in a playoff race, but at least we knew it was coming. Instead of tackling Harvey’s workload head-on, the Mets decided to sweep it under the rug, hoping it wouldn’t resurface.
But agent Scott Boras is too smart for that. Now he’s saying his client should bow out once he reaches 180 innings. Harvey is already at 166 1/3 innings, so that’s right around the corner. The Mets still have a month of baseball to play and even more if they make the postseason, which is likely.
Harvey had been mum on the subject until Saturday. What he said ruffled more than a few feathers. “I've been on the phone with Dr. [James] Andrews. I've been on the phone with Scott," said Harvey. "Dr. Andrews said his limit was 180.”
There’s plenty of blame to go around. The Mets dragged their feet and now they have to deal with the consequences. Boras is famous for hanging teams out to dry, which is why most the league hates dealing with him.
Harvey hasn’t landed that huge contract yet and until he does, he’s going to do whatever he can to protect his arm. That’s understandable. But shutting it down after 180 innings when the Mets still have so much to play for can’t sit well with fans. The Mets considered going to a six-man rotation earlier this year, but they scrapped the idea partly because Harvey didn’t think it was necessary. Now a six-man rotation might be the only way to preserve Harvey’s innings.
Boras and Andrews have no real authority over the Mets, so if Harvey is willing to pitch past 180 innings, there’s nothing they can do about it. But are the whispers from Boras and Andrews already too deep inside Harvey’s head? When Harvey’s odometer reaches 180, we’ll find out.
Gio’s Gem
You know your pitching staff’s loaded when your No. 4 starter is a former 20-game winner. Such is life for the Washington Nationals.
Gio Gonzalez decided to spice up Labor Day weekend by dropping some knowledge on the lowly Atlanta Braves Saturday at Nationals Park. He tossed six innings of two-hit ball for his first victory since August 10. The left-hander supplied 10 strikeouts, his highest total since September 25, 2014 against the Mets.
It’s an impressive stat line for sure, but it hardly tells the whole story. Until the very last inning when he left the bases loaded, Gonzalez was nearly flawless. Atlanta’s hit column read zero until Nick Markakis finally got the Braves on the board with a leadoff single in the sixth inning. Even when things got dicey in the sixth, Gonzalez made sure to shut the door by getting Andrelton Simmons to end the frame with a fielder’s choice.
While Gio worked his magic from 60 feet, six inches away, most of Bryce Harper’s brilliance occurred inside the batter’s box. He put on a show with two hits including his 33rd home run of the season. That round-tripper was the 500th hit of Harper’s career. Harper has now reached base an incredible 17 times in his last 22 plate appearances. His .469 on base percentage is the highest we’ve seen since Chipper Jones logged a .470 OBP in 2008. Not bad for a guy who blew out 22 candles at his last birthday party.
The Braves have now lost 11 straight. Michael Jackson was still recording Thriller the last time Atlanta had a losing streak that long. Only the floundering Phillies have a worse record this year.
Shelby Miller, the pitcher of record on Saturday, has now gone 20 starts without a victory. That win on May 17 feels like eons ago. Miller’s 2.86 ERA is actually ninth best among National League starters. Unfortunately the Braves have averaged 2.54 runs per game in his starts, easily the lowest run support in baseball.
Papi Closes in on 500
Three championships, nine All-Star Games, six Silver Sluggers—is there anything David Ortiz hasn’t accomplished in his 19 seasons?
Well, he hasn’t reached 500 home runs yet. But don’t worry. It’s coming.
Papi wrapped a solo shot around Pesky’s Pole for his 496th homer Saturday against the Phillies. It was his 30th blast of the year, the ninth time he’s reached that threshold since joining the Sox in 2003. No Red Sox player in history, not even The Splendid Splinter Ted Williams, has had more 30-home-run seasons. With 27 games left on the schedule, Ortiz should have no trouble reaching 500 before the end of 2015. When all is said and done, Ortiz might go down as the most prolific power hitter in Red Sox history.
At 39 years and 292 days, Papi is the third-oldest player to reach 30 home runs. Ortiz has hinted at retiring after the 2016 season (that’s when his contract is up) but why would he hang it up if he can still hit bombs? The former World Series MVP has hit a robust .331 in the second half with 15 long balls and 40 runs batted in.
If Ortiz sticks around for another few years, he might get to see Xander Bogaerts blossom into a superstar. The transformation is already happening. No player in the major leagues has hit for a higher average since May 31 (.346). All Xander did Saturday was drive in three runs on a bases-clearing double. Another budding star, Mookie Betts, made his presence felt with three hits. His average has gone up 10 points (.271 to .281) during his 11-game hitting streak.
The pitching-starved Red Sox even got a solid outing from Wade Miley. The left-hander held the Phillies to two runs on five hits for his first complete game.
American League Quick Hits: Mike Moustakas pinch-hit Saturday against the White Sox. The Royals third baseman had missed the previous three games with a hamstring injury … The Red Sox placed Hanley Ramirez on the disabled list with right shoulder fatigue. The move is retroactive to August 27 … Yankees assistant GM Bill Eppler is considered a top candidate for the Angels’ opening at GM ... Jacoby Ellsbury didn’t start Saturday’s game because of an illness but he came off the bench and went 0-for-2 … The Mariners were without two of their starting outfielders Saturday against the Athletics. Franklin Gutierrez sat out with a strained groin while Nelson Cruz was nursing a sore quad … Since his day off on Wednesday, Alexei Ramirez has gone 8-for-12 with six RBI … Mike Trout has now gone 26 games without a home run, the longest streak of his career … Michael Brantley broke up Alfredo Simon’s no-hit bid with a two-out double in the sixth inning … Ervin Santana left it all on the field Saturday against Houston. He matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts while throwing a season-high 119 pitches … George Springer’s return from the disabled list hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies. Since getting a hit in his first at-bat, he’s gone 0-for-7 with 7 Ks … Here’s something you don’t see every day. Indians reliever Giovanni Soto recorded an out on one pitch in his major league debut. No one’s done that since Garland Kiser in 1991 … David Price earned his 100th career win Saturday against Baltimore. He scattered three hits and one run over seven innings … Matt Wieters sat out Saturday because of a sore wrist but Orioles manager Buck Showalter thinks he has a good chance to play on Sunday … Today marks the 20th anniversary of Cal Ripken breaking Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak.
National League Quick Hits: Nolan Arenado homered for a franchise record sixth game in a row on Saturday. He’s homered nine times against the Giants this year … With Andrew Susac (sprained wrist) and Hector Sanchez (sprained ankle) both ailing, the Giants are down to one healthy catcher. That would be Buster Posey … The Dodgers’ 2-0 win over the Padres was their 19th shutout. That leads the major leagues … Yasmani Grandal’s average has plummeted to .253 thanks to an 0-for-33 drought … Andre Ethier returned to the Dodgers’ lineup after missing two games with a knee injury. He went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles … The Padres screened Will Ferrell’s baseball documentary Ferrell Takes the Field at Petco Field after the game. Ferrell was in attendance … Cardinals rookie Stephen Piscotti extended his hitting streak to 12 games on Saturday. He’s plated 13 runs during the streak ... Jaime Garcia spun seven shutout innings against Pittsburgh, lowering his ERA to 1.89. He was one strikeout away from matching his career-high (10) … The Cubs released Rafael Soriano on Saturday. He only appeared in six games … Jake Arrieta didn’t throw a no-hitter this time out, but he still hurled eight shutout frames against the Diamondbacks for his 18th win of the year … Paul Goldschmidt returned from paternity leave Saturday and went 2-for-4 with two singles … The Reds have done a lot of waiting around this year. So far, they’ve had 29 hours and 18 minutes worth of rain delays … Congrats to Shane Peterson on his first career home run. It came off Pedro Villarreal in the sixth inning of Saturday’s win over Cincinnati … The Brewers are shutting down Matt Garza for the rest of the season and he’s not too happy about it. GM Doug Melvin told Garza he could pitch out of the bullpen but he refused … Bartolo Colon extended his scoreless innings streak to 25 Saturday in a win over the Marlins. He also did this … This will be my last Daily Dose of the season. Dave Shovein will handle the Sunday Dose from now on while I switch over to football. See you in 2016!
