Matt Harvey

Down for this season and Possibly next.

Just sad sad sad

Can't catch a break as a Mets or Jets fan...

Hope he makes it back

Not a Mets fan but as a baseball fan found this saddening. Favoring pitching as I do hated to read that article on MLB.com.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130826&content_id=58494726&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

Noteworthy is the care Mets have taken to limit pitch counts and innings. The thought occurs to me if these limits are not going to make a difference in preventing injury why have them? Pitchers arrive these days unable to extend past the 6th inning and struggle just to post 200 innings. And yet they still get injured now as much as ever. Actually it seems like more than ever.

I had noticed that his last couple of starts were not up to his standards. Not a New York fan at all (Mets, Jets, Yanks), but this is sad for baseball. Who's next? Kershaw?

-The Sheik

This babying of pitchers needs to stop. Seems like they need to pitch more to avoid injury such as in the days gone by. Could you imagine Cy Young being held to a pitch count or innings limit? Those guys were horses for a reason....their arms were built to endure lots of pitches and innings. I'm not a doctor by any means but this seams kind of obvious to me. I know Nolan Ryan wanted to go back to a 4 man rotation, and he knows a thing or two about pitching and throwing lots of innings.

I hate all this micro managing...I think its ruining the game.

All it takes is one pitch.

That being said, studies have shown that limiting the stress to young arms can reduce the chances of severe injury. When teams have so much invested in rising superstars, it's easy to understand why they "baby" pitchers so much nowadays. But there's no proof that doing so achieves the desired results. Some pitchers are simply injury-prone, while others seem nearly indestructible. If a pitcher is fatigued, starting to lose velocity, or feeling some soreness I think it's up to the player himself to take preventive action before that one career-damaging pitch occurs.

No one knows what the best course of action is, but a lot of pitchers and coaches believe pitching every day builds up arm strength and durability better than artificially limiting pitch counts and innings pitched does.

I suspect Matt Harvey's injury will send shock waves through MLB. The result will be even more "babying" of young pitchers than before. Owners and GMs will say to themselves - "The Mets didn't do enough to protect him. We won't make the same mistake with our top prospects." Now young aces will be limited to 90 pitches per game and shut down for the season after 150 innings. Reactionary instead of thoughtful. It's the baseball way. The long term effects on pitchers may have the opposite effect, making them too fragile instead of stronger, leading to even more stringent controls on their pitch counts and innings pitched.

If a pitcher is fatigued, starting to lose velocity, or feeling some soreness

It was interesting to note in what I have read on this Harvey had been feeling tightness for several starts.Perhaps a rest or short DL stint would have made a difference. Don't know. I do know I have heard many pitchers and pitching coaches say that is normal when workload is increased and that pitchers just need to pitch through that. Not sure it is possible for people like me who have not been there to understand the difference between normal soreness and soreness that needs attention. I suspect part of the problem is pitchers themselves may not know the difference until after they have experienced soreness that leads to injury.

It's called the Mets Factor, and only happens to the Mets.

I've seen it several times, in my years rooting for them.

Whether it's injuries (Harvey & Generation K)
Trading your favorite player (Seaver)
Trading a young stud that turns into a H.O.F'er (Nolan Ryan)
Guys that never fully reach their max potential (Doc Gooden/Darryl Strawberry)
Pumping up the next coming of the best hitter ever, and he turns out to be average (Gregg Jefferies)

Ya just shake your head, and continue on...

visick


What's sorta ironic with Harvey is weeks ago, I was watching a sports talk show, and they were talking about Harvey. They mentioned his mechanics were very sound.

From what I read a while back (I don't remember the source, sorry), pitchers in the last 20-30 years throw a much higher percentage of high stress pitches (curves, sliders, splits) than in previous generations. Even less stressful pitches, like the circle change and cutter, require a slight incremental increase in arm torque to generate movement over a straight fastball. Starters may throw 40 sliders in a start, and relievers come in and throw breaking ball after breaking ball. Pitch counts can only help so much, but without pitch counts, those 40 sliders become 50-60 sliders in a start and even greater wear and tear.

This is just how the game evolved - every batter in a lineup in a threat rather than having a ss and c who are strictly for defense. No more easy outs. Heck, I watched a Brewers game where Gallardo threw three curve balls to the opposing pitcher in one at-bat.

To me, the only answer is finding a way to increase the effectiveness of fastballs so fewer breaking pitches are required. Teach kids coming up more about location and slightly changing speed on the fastball rather than relying on a breaking ball. You could actually convince the umpires to call high strikes, effectively expanding the strike zone, or you could raise the mound. There's no easy answers.