Responding to Boras, Mets stick with Harvey plan

MIAMI -- Mets assistant general manager John Ricco said Friday that the club will not change its plan for Matt Harvey as the right-hander nears the end of his first season after Tommy John surgery. Harvey's agent, Scott Boras, told CBS Sports that Harvey needs to be kept on an innings limit to protect his health.

Boras said that Harvey, who has tossed 166 1/3 innings so far this season, should log no more than 180 innings, including the playoffs. Ricco, however, said the Mets will simply continue to stick to their plan for their ace.

Ricco said the Mets are not going by any strict innings cap for Harvey, who is 12-7 with a 2.60 ERA in 25 games this season.

In an effort to lessen Harvey's workload heading into the postseason, New York -- which skipped the 26-year-old's turn in the rotation once last month -- plans to do so another time in September, while also expanding to a six-man rotation.

"We've consulted with Matt all the way through and we will continue to do that," Ricco said. "So I don't think anything will change.

"I'm not going to question Scott and what he said. All I know is we're very comfortable with the way we've set this plan out and the process we're following. It has been on consultation with the medical people all the way through."

Harvey was to rejoin the Mets in Miami around Friday's first pitch after suffering from dehydration in his start on Wednesday and missing the team flight on Thursday while recovering.

Ricco said Harvey will make his next scheduled start Tuesday.

"The plan has been pretty consistent from our perspective throughout the season," Ricco said, "in terms of working with the doctors and the medical people -- and obviously Matt and our pitching staff -- in an ongoing basis monitoring how he's feeling and doing with a general parameter in mind as to how many innings we're going to let him throw in the regular season. I think we've stuck to that plan and we're going to continue to stick to that plan."