Doctors suggest limiting Matt Harvey to 180 innings: Will it impact Mets postseason push?

As The Stew's Chis Cwik wrote earlier on Wednesday, the New York Mets are being very cautious when it comes to handling their young pitchers.

They've already skipped Matt Harvey once in August. They have designs on skipping rookie right-hander Noah Syndergaard this weekend. And they also fully intend on returning to a six-man rotation with the return of Steven Matz.

Those are all protective measures instituted to limit the innings on their young arms. With Harvey, though, it's proving to be a little more complicated as doctors have advised the Mets to limit his innings to 180.

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As Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reports, the doctors have not issued a mandate. It's a suggestion, but it's one the Mets figure to take seriously given that Harvey is in his first year back following Tommy John surgery. In fact, manager Terry Collins already acknowledged that Harvey will have at least one more start skipped again down the stretch, with the potential for a second that's likely based on the standings.

Based on the doctor's advice, the latter might be in the Mets best interests regardless. Harvey enters his start Wednesday against Philadelphia with 160 innings already under his belt, meaning he'd be on pace to blow past the 180 threshold. With the six-man rotation taken into account, Rubin figures Harvey would make four more starts during the regular season. Unless the Mets plan on limiting those to strict five-inning outings, he'd end up surpassing 190.

The good news right now is that the Mets' outlook is very good. They currently hold a 6 1/2 game lead over the Washington Nationals with 30 games left to play. Though not impossible, it would take a combination of an epic collapse on their end and an unrelenting September surge from Washington to flip the script. Assuming things stay on pace, the Mets should be able to buy time for everybody, not just Harvey, down the stretch.

Of course, that leads to the next and perhaps greatest concern of Mets fans: What will Harvey's availability be during the playoffs?

At this point, Rubin says the Mets are treating it separately with the hope that all parties will be comfortable unleashing Harvey without limits. There are no current plans to shut him down like the Nationals shut down Stephen Strasburg in 2012. But he also cautions that Harvey's full availability is not a guarantee either, which suggests any usage they can save now will be beneficial later on.

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Without question, this is one storyline that needs to be followed closely down the stretch.

If Harvey enters October without restrictions, the Mets are as dangerous as any team in the tournament. Anything less they would still be a tough out because of their rotation depth, but he's an unquestioned difference maker in a month that's often defined by impact pitchers.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813