After reading what Terry Collins said about leaving Matt Harvey in the game, I think the decision was worse that I imagined:
“He just came over and said, ‘I want this game. I want it bad. You’ve got to leave me in,’ ” Collins said. “I said, ‘Matt, you’ve got us exactly where we wanted to get.’ He said, ‘I want this game in the worst way.’
“So, obviously, I let my heart get in the way of my gut. I love my players. And I trust them. And so I said, ‘Go get ’em out.’ “
Collins reversed a gut decision? Where was the plan? This was an elimination game, with a pitcher, as great as he is, still recovering from Tommy John surgery, tired after a long season. Going into the game, there should have been a plan in place as to how long Harvey would pitch, and who would relieve him and when. Waiting for your gut to tell you what to do is no way to go into battle.
A side issue, closers tend not to enter games in precarious situations any more. The strategy evolved to bring the closer in to start the inning, rather than put him in a situation where he has to pitch from the stretch. Jeurys Familia had a tough series already, and coming in with a man on second just made things tougher.
David, I had the exact same reaction to Collins’ comment: he talks about his heart and his gut, but not a word about his brain.
Jack » Exactly. I suspect there was a plan, which probably was something like, Harvey throws 90 to 100 pitches, and we hope he gets through the seventh with a lead. The we go to Clippard for the eighth inning, Familia for the ninth. It’s tried and true, every pitcher working in his comfort zone. Harvey gave them a bonus by working efficiently, getting them through the eighth inning. At that point, there is no reason to go against the plan. The Royals are seeing Matt for the fourth time in the game, so bring in a new pitcher, and let him pitch from the wind up. Have the setup man warming if the closer gets in trouble.
Harvey pitching eight innings is like the gambler who doubles his money, then instead of quitting, tries to triple his money. That usually doesn’t work out too well.
http://www.imsdb.com/transcripts/South-Park-Red-Man's-Greed.html
Jack » Excellent.
The problem was not letting Harvey go out for the 9th, I supported that. It was not lifting Harvey after the walk to Cain which was a lengthy AB. That eliminated the possibility Harvey was going to finish the game, and his command was off either due to fatigue or adrenaline or both, so why wait?
Also, no deGrom in relief?
Wow. I thought it was bad last night – I was shocked to see Harvey come out to the mound at the start of the 9th and how the announcers talked about how this has to be this way – but you’re right David, hearing Collins “reason” makes it way worse. This is an example of magical thinking at its absolute worst (in a sports context).
If I’m the Mets brass, Collins would’ve been fired today. To be more specific, he would’ve been fired around 1:45a this morning and the announcement would’ve gone out to the press before anyone went to bed on the west coast. You trust a manager to make the right decision, or a smart decision, or at least a calculated risk decision, and Terry Collins just showed me that he cannot do that when the game is a must win game.