Heralded Prospect Matt Harvey Tasked With Slowing Mets' Free Fall In Debut
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- The Mets are set to get their first look at Matt Harvey on a big-league mound Thursday.
Talk about pressure. Along with his debut, the heralded prospect will be faced with slowing New York's free fall.
"It is what it is," said manager Terry Collins. "He's going to have to realize there's lots of things that come with pitching in the big leagues, and one of them might be to stop a losing streak."
The Mets lost their sixth straight game -- make that 11 out of 12 -- on Wednesday afternoon against the Washington Nationals. And it's starting to take its toll.
Reliever Tim Byrdak was seen arguing with catcher Josh Thole in the dugout after giving up a two-run home run in the seventh inning. The Mets sit at 47-51, an unfortunate and incredible turn after the team's feel-good first half.
"Once in a while when things go bad you start making excuses, and I don't deal with excuses. I deal with accountability," said Collins. "I deal with standing up and being a man, standing up and being a professional baseball player and playing the game right."
So now Harvey is being called upon to snap the streak. He'll get the ball Thursday in Arizona against the Diamondbacks, winners of five straight before Wednesday's loss to Colorado.
Drafted No. 7 overall by the Mets, the 23-year-old Harvey went 7-5 in 20 starts for Triple-A Buffalo this season, recording 112 strikeouts to accompany a 3.68 ERA.
"'Pitch,'" Collins said he told Harvey. "'Do what you've been doing. It's the same thing, the same game. You have to make pitches. If you don't make pitches, you're going to get hit hard.' There's not much more to say. This guy's got the makeup. He doesn't want to be just a guy, he wants to be the guy. He has a good approach."
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