New York Mets: Amid Season-Spoiling Skid, Prospect Matt Harvey Gets the Call

With starting pitching options wearing thin and the season slipping away fast, New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson has finally taken action and will call upon hot pitching prospect Matt Harvey in time to make his major league debut Thursday in Phoenix, according to the team.

After dropping nine out of their last 10 ballgames and dropping under the .500 mark for the first time since 2011, the Mets are clinging onto hope that Harvey will help them march out of their second-half doldrums.

Just two weeks ago, everything seemed to be on the right track for the Mets. They stood 4.5 games back of the first-place Washington Nationals, but a mere half game out of the National League's second Wild Card spot. A 46-40 record at the break, for a team that some predicted to win no more than 60 games, was as close to a moral victory as there is in baseball.

The baseball gods undoubtedly had to counteract the Mets' hot start, however. Next came a series of events that seemed all too familiar to Mets fans.

On July 11th, news broke that starter Dillon Gee would likely miss the remainder of the season after undergoing a procedure to clean out an artery in his shoulder. This was a major blow for Gee—who was on the heels of an eight-inning, one-run outing versus Chicago—and the Mets, whose starting pitching had carried them through the season's first half.

With Matt Harvey in the wings, general manager Sandy Alderson opted to give the prospect more time to develop, and subsequently called on veteran has-been Miguel Batista to slide into the rotation. Batista lost his only start, lasting only three innings and allowing four runs. Batista was designated for assignment following the game.

To make matters worse, 11 days after the Gee news broke, Johan Santana was placed on the 15-day disabled list, with a sprained right ankle. Santana suffered the injury in the fifth inning of a July 6th game versus Chicago on a play covering first base. After two subpar outings, despite pleading the best he could that he was healthy, the Mets took action (maybe a start or two too late) and placed him on the DL.

Santana's numbers pre- and post-injury are especially telling. In his 102 innings before spraining the ankle at Citi Field, Santana was pitching a 2.82 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, while allowing 10 home runs.

However, in his 8.2 innings after the incident, he had allowed 17 earned runs on 22 hits, pitched to the tune of a 17.65 ERA and 3.12 WHIP and allowed five home runs.

Enter: Matt Harvey.

The UNC alumnus and Connecticut native was the team's No. 1 pick of the 2010 draft, seventh overall. Standing tall at 6'4", 210 pounds, Harvey has zoomed through the Mets' minor league system in less than two seasons and clocking in just over 245 innings. 

Alderson and the Mets were hoping to wait for Harvey to iron out his minor control issues in Triple-A Buffalo before making the call, but the big club's needs overruled this aspect of player development.

Harvey's control has seen an improvement as of late, however. After his first six starts of facing Triple-A batters—a clear adjustment period for any 23-year-old player—Harvey has walked four or more in only three out of 13 starts, and he completed at least six innings in nine of those starts.

The thinking here is that one or two more starts in Buffalo isn't going to solve Harvey's command. The Mets believe in his stuff—including a fastball that touches 98 miles per hour and a two-seamer at around 93, a slider, power-curve and a tumbling changeup to keep hitters off-balance.

Another issue that was on prominent display during the Triple-A All-Star Game, which was played in Harvey's home stadium, Coca-Cola Field, has to do with that changeup.

When opting to use it, Harvey's delivery slows and becomes more deliberate. This is something that will get around quickly among major league hitters. Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen as well as bullpen coach Ricky Bones—who is famous around the minor leagues for polishing young pitchers—must have this on the top of their to-do list upon Harvey's arrival in Flushing.

Matt Harvey presumably will not be the savior of the 2012 Mets season. His 10 to 15 starts probably won't remind anybody of Dontrelle Willis' second-half run of 2003. He may not perform up to the standards that desperate fans may hold him to.

The Mets may not add a significant piece on July 31st, and the season may come to an anticlimactic end, just like the ones Mets fans have restlessly been dragged through for the entirety of the Citi Field era.

Regardless of the next two months, Matt Harvey will be part of the Mets nucleus for the foreseeable future. Although it ultimately may not pay off with a playoff appearance in his first season, it won't be long before Harvey, along with Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia, and top prospect Zach Wheeler, pitch the next generation of Mets to the playoffs and beyond.