Mets consider starting struggling Harvey on short rest

Matt Harvey's next start is not being skipped after all. In fact, his next turn may be sooner than anyone expected.

The New York Mets right-hander, who was booed off the mound at Citi Field Thursday after his worst start of the season against the Washington Nationals, will make his next scheduled start during the team's next series in the nation's capital. Since Harvey only threw 61 pitches in Thursday's disastrous outing, manager Terry Collins is considering starting him on short rest in Monday's game at Nationals Park, up a day from his scheduled Tuesday outing.

Either way, Harvey will pitch against the Nationals next week, which is what he wanted.

"He said, 'I want to pitch,'" Collins told reporters Friday. "I was glad to hear that."

Harvey's struggles have been a major talking point among Mets fans during the early part of 2016, but Thursday's start brought everything to a head. He allowed nine Nationals runs - six of them earned - on eight hits in just 2 2/3 innings, which raised his ERA to 5.77. It was the third time in four outings this season he's allowed at least eight hits.

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As Harvey's struggles have continued to mount, there was talk about New York possibly skipping his next start, or even removing him from the rotation altogether. It's at his behest that the team will stick with the beleaguered star as he tries to figure out what's going wrong on the mound.

"He wants to battle through it," Collins said.

Collins has full confidence in Harvey turning things around, and believes that Thursday's chorus of boos will turn back into the supportive chants he heard during last year's World Series in due time.

"It'll happen again," Collins said. "This summer, it will happen again. I told him that. What he heard last November, he will hear that again this summer. But you've got to get better to hear it."