Mets sticking to plan on Matt Harvey's innings limit despite agent Scott Boras' warning
Matt Harvey of the New York Mets pitches in the second inning against the Boston Red Sox at Citi Field on Friday, Aug. 28, 2015. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Mets are sticking with their plan to have Matt Harvey pitch in the playoffs despite agent Scott Boras' statement Friday that to push him past 180 innings "is putting the player in peril."
Boras made the explosive comments in an interview with CBSSports.com. Boras said the doctors who performed Harvey's Tommy John surgery have said he should not throw more than 180 innings this season, his first after the procedure. Harvey is at 166 1/3.
"These are doctors' opinions," Boras said. "And club officials are not determining how many innings he can pitch. Matt Harvey would love to pitch. But the surgeon who saved his career and other surgeons consulted have said that for maximum safety, he is not to exceed 180 innings."
The Mets have said all along that they planned to restrict Harvey's innings in the regular season so he can pitch in the playoffs.
"The plan has been pretty consistent from our perspective throughout the season," assistant general manager John Ricco said. "Working with the doctors, our medical people, obviously Matt, our pitching staff, and on an ongoing basis monitoring how he's feeling and how he's doing with general parameters in mind as to how many innings we're going to let him throw in the regular season. We've stuck with that plan and we're going to continue to stick with that plan. We've consulted with Matt all the way through and we will continue to do that. I don't think anything will change."
Asked about Boras' contention that the Mets will be placing Harvey "in peril," Ricco said: "I'm not going to question Scott's . . . what he said. All I know is we're very comfortable with the way we've set this plan out and the process we're following and it has been in consultation with the medical people all the way through . . . My experience has been we work with the doctors and we certainly listen to what they say because they're the doctors. It's not my experience that I've ever heard of a doctor mandating a pitching limit."
Boras and Mets GM Sandy Alderson did not respond to requests for comment.
Harvey, who is scheduled to face the Nationals on Tuesday, had a start skipped last month to limit his innings. The Mets are expected to skip another before the end of the regular season. If they reach the World Series, Harvey could add 50 to 70 innings to his current total.
Harvey has consistently said he was on board with the Mets' plan because he wants to pitch in the playoffs. Ricco said the team still could shut down Harvey during the postseason if the Mets go deep enough and his innings pile up.
Harvey was on his way from New York to Miami during Friday night's game. He stayed back for blood work after suffering from dehydration during Wednesday's start.
Boras also is the agent for Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who was shut down before the postseason in 2012 after returning from Tommy John surgery. Strasburg had thrown 1591/3 innings.
The Mets have battled with Boras before, leading manager Terry Collins to quip about another of Boras' clients, rookie outfielder Michael Conforto: "I wonder how many at-bats he's going to be allowed."
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
