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NL DIVISION SERIES: DODGERS VS METS

October 11, 2015

Matt Harvey

Flushing, New York - Workout Day

THE MODERATOR: First question for Matt.

Q. Matt, obviously last night's a very emotional night for this team. Losing a teammate like Ruben Tejada. What's your view of looking at it and seeing it in the play and your feelings about losing a guy of that importance?
MATT HARVEY: Well, I think for all of us it was a lot of emotions going on. I think, you know, obviously the last thing we want to see is something like that happen, and you know, there was a lot of upset feelings, and any time you lose a player like that, a guy who earned his spot and has been out there game after game, you know, we're all feeling for him, and we're definitely moving forward with him in our minds. And we gotta go out and kind of do our talking by going out there and doing our best to beat them.

Q. Matt, earlier this season you had your thing with Utley. Different team, obviously much different circumstances. What happens when you face him, if you face him tomorrow?
MATT HARVEY: Well, I think, you know, there's certain situations that go on through a game, and you know, I think that's a completely different situation that occurred, and that was all resolved.

But as far as yesterday goes, I think, like Terry said, the League's I think doing their best to go over the situation, and you know, obviously there were rules in place regarding people hitting the catcher. So I think that the League is going to do their job to look over protecting our second basemen and shortstops in this game and, you know, keep from slides like that or tackles like that yesterday, keep health in the right mind.

Q. Matt, Terry talked about how players have policed this sort of thing on the field for a long time. I was wondering just in your mind how you balance between the idea of, you know, enforcing and policing this yourself as one of those players, you know, with the magnitude of the situation and being in a Game 3?
MATT HARVEY: I think the most important thing is going out and doing my job and doing what's best for the team. For me, in my mind, that's going out and pitching a long game and being out there as long as I can, and you know, keeping zeros on the board. You know, for me that's my job, and you know, continuing to do that is always going to be my job.

But you know, as far as sticking up for your teammates, I think being out there and doing what's right is exactly what I'm going to do.

Q. Matt, can you talk about your feeling going into pitching the first postseason game here at Citi Field as well as your own first postseason game?
MATT HARVEY: I think it's exciting. Obviously finding out I was going to pitch Game 3, you know it's either going to be 2-0, 1-1 or we're going to be down two games and need a win. So regardless of how things shaped up, I think we're all excited to be back at home, and you know, obviously we wish we were 2-0 coming here and having a chance of beating them both games at home. But you know, our mindset is to do that anyways, and with one win in LA, I think we're pretty happy with that. We're all excited for tomorrow.

Q. Matt, after the late arrival to the workout, you reaffirmed your commitment to your teammates by apologizing. Is tomorrow night an opportunity for you to maybe do the same thing but with actions?
MATT HARVEY: I think regardless of what's happened, I think tomorrow in general is -- it's a playoff baseball game. You know, obviously my job is to go out, like I said, and put up zeros and go as long as I can, and regardless of what's happened, what's happened yesterday, in the past, all that's been taken care of internally. And regarding moving forward, pitching a good game, pitching my game is all that's on my mind. And I think that's all that's on our team's mind.

Q. When Terry was just in here, he said he did have a little chat with you already, you know, just about your approach. What was that message like? And do you have a sense of kind of harnessing your emotions to channel it into your pitching, with all that's gone on in this series?
MATT HARVEY: Yeah, I think we're all going to be pretty excited, all pretty amped up for tomorrow. I think the last two starts have been kind of a good base for moving into tomorrow, and I'm extremely happy with the way I threw the ball the last two outings and moving forward, and the way everything feels. I think, you know, everything's right where we need it to be, and the excitement's going to be there. I mean, that's not something to shy away from or hide from, because obviously any human in this situation is going to be excited, and we all are.

So bottling that up and using that as positive energy is something we're all gonna do our best jobs of.

Q. Is that what Terry talked to you about or no?
MATT HARVEY: No, not really (laughter). No, what we talked about is internal stuff, but mostly about the situation.

Q. Matt, when you saw the slide, what was your initial reaction? Was it like is this clearly a dirty play or like what --
MATT HARVEY: I think history has kind of shown that he's kind of been in situations like that before. I know personally, you know, after watching in 2010 and hearing about it with Ruben as well, you know, there's some situations that need to be taken care of. I think the League is going to do their best to do that and take charge.

As far as where we were, it was kind of hard to see at first, you know, where exactly the slide started. But after obviously the replay, everybody saw that it was more of a tackle than anything. We're all feeling for Ruben. We're going to pick him up, and you know, we're excited to be back at home.

Q. Terry didn't want you to hesitate to pitch inside and didn't advocate Major League Baseball having a warning before the game even started. How much of an impediment would it be if Major League Baseball were to issue warnings even before the game started?
MATT HARVEY: It's something that if you really start thinking about, then it might affect your approach and your game. For me it's I gotta go out there and stick with everything that I normally do. And whether it's a game plan against a certain guy to bust him in, that's part of baseball. That needs to be done.

So I'm not going to give up my game plan, my approach for something like that. It's unfair. If certain situations come up where, you know, I need to throw that pitch, I'm definitely not going to be afraid to go inside.

Q. Matt, after the performance that Jacob and Noah had in LA, what does that say about this pitching staff? And do you accept that as a personal challenge to live up to the expectations?
MATT HARVEY: Absolutely. I think, you know, all year I think we've all been watching each other and picking up on each other, picking up certain things, whether it's watching bullpens, being out there and asking each other questions. I think, you know, we use each other as fuel and motivation to go back out and, you know, not one-up a guy, but repeat what they have done.

I think Noah did a tremendous job yesterday of doing that and following Jacob. My mindset is on pitching my game and going out and kind of keeping my main focus on that, and not living up to what they have done. But you know, going out and doing all I can.

Q. Jumping off that question, watching what Jacob and Noah did in the first two, one, did you pick up anything in the way they attacked their hitters? And the other part of this is, is there a healthy competition among you guys, among the starting staff, which is starting to get a lot of accolades lately?
MATT HARVEY: Yeah, I think any starting staff really has that kind of friendly competition, as you could say. But you know, for us it's mostly, like I said, doing exactly what they did and just trying to follow that more than anything.

Like I said, we're not trying to one-up each other. It's not anything close to that. It's, you know, they pitched two great games; I want to go out tomorrow and pitch a great game, and you know, that's mostly the competition that we have.

Q. Matt, if Utley is in their lineup tomorrow, he's had some good at-bats against you in the past. Can you use what happened, and everything that might be expected as something to approach the at-bats differently against him in this situation and change things for yourself?
MATT HARVEY: Yeah, I think obviously with the amount of research and video that we have, you know, I've definitely gone back and reviewed their lineup, and especially him, who like you said, has had some pretty good at-bats. The game's about making adjustments. So for a guy like him or for a guy like anybody on their roster who I might be facing, making those small adjustments is something you do as a starting pitcher.

Q. Matt, just in terms of the year that Wilmer Flores has had, I'm just curious how his perception within the clubhouse has changed over the course of the year, you know, not only just in April and May and the struggles at short, but with July and everything that's come since.
MATT HARVEY: I think, especially after the moment here, I think New York in general has picked him up. We've always had our confidence in Wilmer. He's going to step up. He wants that job. He's always wanted that job. We're not worried one bit. I think we're all excited to have him out there. And I think New York's excited to have him out there. It couldn't have been a bigger home run that he had after all that situation, so it's obviously shown that he's not afraid to be out there.

Q. Matt, only you know really how you feel one day or two days or three days removed from a start, but given that this could go to a fifth game, and given that you are being very wary of your arm, could you envision yourself being a reliever in Game 5?
MATT HARVEY: Yeah, I'd love to. You know, obviously after tomorrow I'm going to do everything I can to get my body and arm back as soon as possible. You know, obviously I can't throw a uniform on and run to the bullpen and say, I want to throw in the seventh inning, but I'll definitely speak my mind and let them know how I feel going into that game.

You know, my whole idea about being here is wanting to play in every game and be out there as much as I can, so if that means a little extra running, a little extra massage, then I'm going to do everything I can to help this team.

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