With Matt Harvey Scare Over, Mets Must Refocus on Making Playoffs

For the past few days, the burning question in the Big Apple has been whether Matt Harvey would pitch for the New York Mets in the postseason. There's a complicating factor, though: The Mets have to get there first.

With the residue of the Harvey controversy lingering in the air, and with a huge three-game series with the Washington Nationals kicking off Monday, now is the moment for the Mets to refocus and renew their quest for October.

First, a quick recap of the Harvey saga. The Mets, their fans and the baseball world at large went into a tizzy when Harvey and super-agent Scott Boras confirmed the ace right-hander is on a strict 180-inning limit at the advice of Dr. James Andrews, the surgeon who performed Harvey's Tommy John surgery in 2013.

Considering Harvey has already thrown 166.1 innings, that cap made it a near certainty he'd go on the shelf just as the Mets were pushing toward October.

"I'm the type of person, I never want to put the ball down," Harvey said Saturday, per Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. "Obviously, I hired Scott as my agent and went to Dr. Andrews as my surgeon because I trusted them to keep my career going and keep me healthy."

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That wasn't enough to stem the tide of criticism. ESPN's Buster Olney went so far as to suggest New York should trade Harvey in the offseason.

And Mets general manager Sandy Alderson tossed responsibility for the innings cap back on Harvey, per Newsday's David Lennon:

On Sunday, Harvey attempted some damage control, penning a piece for the Players' Tribune not-so-subtly titled "I Will Pitch in the Playoffs."

Here's a snip from Harvey's missive, which clarifies the 180-inning limit is in place to make sure he has something left for the postseason:

"

As an athlete, when your surgeon explains to you the risks of exceeding a certain number of innings, it can be alarming. You listen. I love to play baseball and I love winning even more. I would not give that up for anything. I also know I want to be able to play and win for a long time. But there has never been a doubt in my mind: I will pitch in the playoffs. I will be healthy, active and ready to go.

"

That won't be enough to quiet every critic. Writing for the New York Post, Ken Davidoff opined of Harvey, "not even The Dark Knight can put toothpaste back in its tube."

And it's difficult to imagine all this brouhaha hasn't created a clubhouse distraction for a team that was humming along until recently.

David Wright, one of the more respected veteran Mets, insisted that's not the case, per ESPN.com's Adam Rubin. "Nobody in here is distracted," Wright said. "Not a person is distracted."

But former Mets pitcher Ron Darling offered a different take, per the New York Post's Dan Martin.

"I think this is a mess," said Darling, now a team broadcaster. "It's just a shame. Since the trades, they've been playing so well and the team effort has been overshadowed by what I think is nonsense."

Nonsense or not, it's the reality for the Mets. Rather than preparing for his start Tuesday against Washington, one of the biggest outings of his career so far, Harvey has been answering questions about his loyalty and penning articles defending his actions.

That has "distraction" written all over it.

Yes, New York holds a four-game lead over the Nationals in the National League East, even after losing 4-3 to the Miami Marlins on Sunday.

But the Nats, who just completed a four-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves, have an opportunity to make a move.

First, there's that enormous three-game series between the two teams. After that, the Nationals play 10 straight games against the Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies, two of the division's sub-.500 bottom-dwellers.

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If things break right for Washington—and wrong for the Mets—there could be a significant swing in the standings. And the chatter will begin anew about New York's epic 2007 meltdown, when they squandered a commanding division lead down the stretch and wound up missing the dance altogether.

They can quash that talk by getting back to their winning ways, shaking off Harveygate and resuming the brand of baseball that propelled them past the Nats.

The Mets need to win at least two out of three and halt the Nats' momentum. Then they need to reassert their dominance by plowing through a stretch of seven games against the Atlanta Braves and those pesky Fish, who just beat them twice in three days.

After that, a three-game set at Citi Field against the New York Yankees looms. That's playoff-level competition, with the added drama of a Subway Series—a perfect opportunity for the Mets to recapture the swagger that helped them go 20-8 in August.

The pitching is there, even with a limited Harvey. Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and the ageless Bartolo Colon are more than capable of carrying things over the finish line.

Colon even joked about the situation after shutting out the Marlins on Saturday.

"I'm out of limits," the 42-year-old right-hander said after his gem, per Rubin. "An old person like me, I've got no limit."

The formerly punchless Mets offense is now sixth in the NL in runs scored, thanks in no small part to trade-deadline acquisition Yoenis Cespedes, who's hitting .301 with 12 home runs since arriving in Queens. Harvey's troubles should have no impact on the bats' ability to keep banging out run support.

Now isn't the time to panic, despite the return of Panic City. But it is time for New York to string together some wins, particularly against Washington, and answer questions about its playoff readiness with a resounding "yes."

All statistics current as of Sept. 6 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.