Matt Harvey Played Golf Before No-Showing At Mets Game Saturday

Matt Harvey will reportedly file a grievance against the New York Mets for the three-day, unpaid suspension levied against him. Harvey has been suspended because he didn’t show up at the ballpark for the team’s game Saturday night. While he claims he had a headache, Harvey did play golf on Saturday before he decided not to show up.

Harvey’s side of the story goes something like this: he played golf, returned home at around 1 p.m. and got a severe headache. He claims he advised the Mets of the situation, but they decided to suspend him anyway.

Harvey showed up at Citi Field on Sunday when he was supposed to pitch, but when he arrived he was advised of his suspension. For some reason he didn’t know he was suspended until he showed up on Sunday, despite the Mets telling the media his suspension started Saturday.

Harvey and the Mets have been at odds for a while and this incident may be a crossroads in the relationship. The formerly dominant right-hander was fantastic during his first three major league seasons. Then in 2016 he was awful, posting a 4-10 record with a 4.86 ERA, 1.47 WHIP while dealing with injuries. Surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome ended his campaign early.

This year in six starts Harvey is 2-2 with a 5.14 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and a -0.2 fWAR.

While injuries are certainly a part of Harvey’s decline, the 28-year-old should still be able to get things done on the mound. He has the pure stuff to be a great starter. The thing is, distractions off-the-field, like repeated public romances with supermodels, have coincided with his diminished stats on the mound.

Now he’s been suspended for no-showing a game when he had a headache, despite the fact that he was able to golf earlier in the day. What’s the real story here? We may never know. But Harvey has to get his stuff together if he ever wants to be an ace again.