Matt Harvey misses Mets’ mandatory workout due to traffic

New York Mets manager Terry Collins said pre-NLDS workouts are mandatory, and starting pitcher Matt Harvey was not present on Tuesday.

New York Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey arrived late and missed the the team’s mandatory workout on Tuesday because he was caught in traffic.

“I screwed up,” Harvey said as he apologized to the team, Alderson and manager Terry Collins. “Truly, I just screwed up.”

General manager Sandy Alderson answered questions from reporters before Harvey arrived, but did not know the reason for his absence.

Manager Terry Collins said that Harvey called him to tell him he was stuck in traffic. Collins told him to turn around, but said that he does not necessarily consider it an excused absence.

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The Mets spent much of the last months of the season managing Harvey’s innings, as the starter and agent Scott Boras instructed the Mets not to pitch Harvey beyond 180 innings in his first season after Tommy John surgery. Harvey finished the season with 189 1/3 innings for a 13–8 record with a 2.71 ERA and 188 strikeouts.

The Mets will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series, which will begin on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. Harvey is slated to start the third game of the series.

TC: “He said ‘I’m stuck in a tunnel,’ which happens. So, he said ‘hey, I’m not going anywhere, I’m dead stopped…’"

— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) October 6, 2015

More TC: “… I said (expletive) it, we’ll take care of it tomorrow.”

— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) October 6, 2015

Collins said the incident would not change the rotation's plans against the Dodgers and Harvey will be fined for his absence. 

“This isn't college, where he's going to miss the first quarter of a football game,” Collins said. “I'm going to take care of it in-house. I deal with it one way. The players deal with it another way. He's going to get fined. It's no big deal. He's going to continue to pitch. He f----- up. People do that. He feels bad. The players will take care of it on their own. We don't need it. We need to try to stay as positive as we can.”

- Christopher Chavez