Mets activate Matt Harvey, option Josh Smoker to Triple-A Las Vegas

After showing some promise in Spring Training, Josh Smoker‘s struggles sealed his fate with the big league club.
This weekend was a bit weird. Usually the negative stories surrounding the Mets are all about their struggles on the field, but these last few days, they’ve been more about the off the field issues Matt Harvey has had.
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On Tuesday afternoon, Harvey held a press conference and apologized for his actions. His words seemed sincere, and as a fan of this team and therefore, of Harvey as well, I hope he really meant them.
Seeing as how his 3-game suspension is up, the Mets have officially reactivated him. To make room for Harvey on the roster, the Amazin’s have optioned lefty reliever Josh Smoker to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Smoker, a fan favorite for his passion on the field, has been utterly terrible in the early part of this season. In 16 innings pitched, he’s given up 18 hits, 14 earned runs, and 10 walks. His ERA stands at 7.88 which is nowhere near where any pitcher wants to be in the first weeks of May.
With the other lefty Josh, Josh Edgin, performing at a much higher level over the same span (13 innings, 11 hits, and 3 earned runs allowed), the call was a pretty easy one to make for the front office.
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As far as Matt Harvey is concerned, he will likely be making his next start on Friday when the Mets visit Milwaukee for a weekend series. It’ll be really interesting to see how Harvey not only approaches the start, but how he performs in it after dealing with so many distractions this week.