Mets: The ups and downs of Matt Harvey

While Matt Harvey has only played in a small sample of three games this spring for the Mets, they tell you everything that you need to know. They show that Harvey has been a mix of good and horrible.

In his first game, Harvey didn’t even make it to two complete innings. Versus the Cardinals, he gave up four runs on four hits. In his second outing, against the Astros, he fared much better. This time around he gave up just one run on two hits over three innings. This dropped his spring ERA from a horrid 21.60 to a still terrible 9.64.

In Wednesday’s game against the Marlins, he gave up four runs, two of them earned, over 3 and 1/3 innings. This brought his ERA a bit lower to 7.88.

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While he may hold an 0-3 record with an ERA over 7, there are still reasons to believe in Harvey. He has now thrown an even eight innings and during that span he’s struck out eight batters and only walked two.

Rates such as that, over the course of a full season would be remarkable. What Harvey needs to work on is giving up hits, especially when it comes to home runs, which have been a problem.

Before going down last July, Harvey went the final 38 innings without giving up a home run. During that time, he pitched to a 3.20 ERA. However, during the ten games before that stretch, he gave up a home run roughly every six innings and pitched to a 6.08 ERA.

His spring training stats make it seem as if he’s heading down that same road. The four runs he gave up in Wednesday’s game were not a result of home runs. However, he’s given up two over his first 4 and 2/3 innings.

What else could be the problem? For one, Harvey is dealing with a loss of velocity, mostly as a way to bring himself back up to where he was. For the time being, Harvey will be dealing with his fastball in the low 90s and has been using his other pitches more often. While he will still be able to get batters out at these rates, it could still pose a challenge.

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The strikeouts are there, and the great walk rate is there. Now Harvey needs to put his fate in his ability to coax good contact and in the Mets defense.