Harvey’s Mental Game

Over the last few weeks there has been much debate about whether or not Matt Harvey is ready for the big leagues.  Tonight we get to find out.

I have to admit I’m concerned.  In my mind I had Harvey and Wheeler starting off the 2013 season in the rotation, having all of 2012 in the minors to fine tune their game.  I’m not going to flat-out say it is the wrong decision to hand Harvey the ball tonight.  Let’s face it, something’s got to change and maybe he’ll give this squad a boost.

In many ways, baseball is a numbers game.  My problem is I am way too lazy to analyze stats to come up with an opinion about a player’s readiness.  Particularly in the pitching area.

Instead, I focus on their confidence because on many occasions it is very easy to decipher.  All you have to do is look at a guy’s face or pay attention to his body language.

Read the following names of Mets’ pitchers and picture the look on their face when they were on the mound only.  Forget everything you know about them.  Forget about how many games they have won, their career ERA, how fast they throw, how tall they are, or how nasty their breaking pitches are.  Focus on only how they carry themselves.

Mike Pelfrey, Aaron Heilman, Frank Francisco, Manny Acosta, Armando Benitez, Jeremy Heffner, Chris Schwinden, Bobby Parnell

This group doesn’t exactly ooze machismo does it?

Now try the same exercise with the following list.

Tom Seaver, Billy Wagner, Dwight Gooden (first few years before the coke completely took over), R.A. Dickey, Johan Santana, David Cone, John Franco

You feel a little more confident in their ability to get a guy out don’t you?  Or better yet, their ability to pitch out of a jam.

Can a pitcher’s outward confidence change?  Sure.  But I argue it’s rare.

Tonight, pay attention to how Harvey reacts when someone drills one of his pitches, or when he doesn’t get a call.  It’s all about the mental game.  Right now, I’m not sure even his own catcher knows. Check out this quote from Rob Johnson

“I think mentally he’s strong enough to be there. It’s just going to be a matter of if he can compose his emotions.”

Maybe I’m being nit picky here but isn’t composing your emotions part of being mentally strong?  In my book it’s the most important thing.

The cool thing about all of this is we’ll start to figure it out with Matt Harvey tonight.

Rejoice

I would like to tell you that I do not have a petty bone in my body, and that it does not matter to me whether or not the Yankees or Phillies win in the playoffs.

I would also like to tell you that I do not take satisfaction in seeing the look of shock on Yankee and Philly fans’ faces as they realize that they just got bounced from the playoffs in the divisional round…at home.

The reality is my friends, I am not bigger than that.  I do possess a petty bone in my body, and I received a small amount of satisfaction witnessing the shock on our rival fans faces.

So follow the advice I received from Tom in a text last night,

“Rejoice” -Tom

 

Damn You Charlie Manuel

Time for a confession.

In the back of my mind I had this picture of the Mets playing decent baseball and staying below the radar in terms of everyone’s expectations.  We would get to August and the Mets would be hanging around within striking distance, yet few would consider them an actual threat.  As the season came to a conclusion they would sneak into a wild card birth and we would have a nice little surprise on our hands.

Unfortunately, the Mets have not been cooperating.  During the spring they kept talking about “surprising everyone.”  “We’re better than most people think.”  etc. etc.

I didn’t get too upset because in all reality, what else do you expect members of your organization to say when asked about their chances?  “We suck.”  “Things will be different next year when we get rid of some of this dead weight”.  These comments aren’t going to convince many in taking the Mets seriously.

Leave it to good ole’ Charlie Manuel to really ruin it.  Check out his statement after last night’s game:

I heard people talk about how many games they’re going to lose, but they’ve got good players. They’ve got some speed, power. They had 13 hits tonight. They’re more than a second-division team, I’m telling you.

What the hell Charlie?  Why did you have to go and say something like that for?  Now that the manager of the NL favorite is giving this current group some credit, the cat is really out of the bag.

Why is this a bad thing you ask?  Because people are going to start believing there is some merit to this.  The pressure is going to mount.  Our expectations might raise too quickly.  I was really hoping for a pleasant surprise, not a season of hope destroyed by an unfavorable end result.

Thanks a lot Charlie.  I still think you look like a turkey on the run when you jog out of the dugout with that neck bobble you’ve got going on.