The New York Mets are hoping that Matt Harvey will start Friday’s game after he serves a three-day suspension.
The New York Mets are planning that Matt Harvey will be back in the rotation to start Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers after he serves his three-day suspension.Initially the reason for Harvey’s suspension was unknown, as some thought it was related to a Mets’ social media photo that mistakenly featured a rather phallic item — the picture was of 1B T.J. Rivera, but a sex toy is clearly seen in the adjacent locker belonging to C Kevin Plawecki.
It was believed that maybe Harvey put it in the locker, resulting in the move to suspend the star pitcher.
However, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports confirmed that the suspension was a result of Harvey not showing up at a game and failing to let the team know.
Sources: Harvey did not show at ballpark yesterday.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 7, 2017
Source close to Harvey says he had migraine and cited possible communication issue with #Mets. Team evidently saw it differently.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 7, 2017
Former Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca tweeted about that possible reason, proclaiming that he showed up every day to the ballpark and that it takes two seconds to send a text.
ALL the rumors about Matt Harvey are completely wrong…but what he did I can't defend. He let his teammates down more than anyone. #LGM
— Paul Lo Duca (@paulloduca16) May 7, 2017
17 years I played I showed up at park EVERY DAY including the day my mother passed. Underlying problem here but a text takes 2 seconds. #lgm
— Paul Lo Duca (@paulloduca16) May 7, 2017
According to ESPN, Mets manager Terry Collins said the right-hander will return to the team on Tuesday and will have to explain to the team what happened.
“You make a mistake. You stand up, be accountable and move on. And you know what, people forget about it,” Collins said. “We have a policy here. We had to do something. Sandy did it. I respect it. I thought it was the right thing to do. I know it’s dramatic, but I think any team in baseball would have probably reacted very similarly. And it wasn’t just Matt Harvey. Anybody in that room that misses a day and nobody knows about it, we’ve got to do the same thing.”
The Dark Knight is 2-2 with a 5.14 ERA this season, opening the year with four solid starts, only to severely struggle during his last two.
The Harvey suspension wasn’t the only bad thing to happen to the injury plagued Mets this past weekend — Noah “Thor” Syndergaard was placed on the 60-day disabled list due to a torn lat muscle.