Mets make it official: Matt Harvey is moving to the bullpen

ATLANTA - Despite his insistence to the contrary Thursday night, Matt Harvey is not a starting pitcher anymore. 

The Mets have sent the struggling righty to the bullpen in an attempt to help him rebound after a rough start to his year. Harvey will not he available until Tuesday, and the righty was not pleased after the team informed him on the decision Saturday.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, I obviously am at a 10 with being pissed off," Harvey said before Saturday's game. "My performance hasn’t been there and I have to do whatever I have to do to get back in the starting rotation and right now it’s go to the bullpen, work on some things to get where I need to be and get my (expletive) in order and figure it out.”

Harvey is 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA, and his poor performance made him the odd man out with lefty Jason Vargas set to make his season debut next weekend in San Diego.

The Mets did not ask Harvey whether he would accept a demotion to the minors.

Mets manager Mickey Callaway and pitching coach Dave Eiland both have experience with pitchers who benefited from bullpen stints. Callaway used this tactic with Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer in Cleveland, and Eiland did with Danny Duffy of the Royals.

"He can help us," Callaway said. "Dave and I have both seen guys go to the bullpen and come out of it better than they were before. That can be the case for Matt Harvey.”

The Mets are hoping Harvey will embrace this opportunity, and Callaway believes that Harvey is going to use his disappointment as motivation.

“As of right now, the indications are he’s going to go down there and be the best Matt Harvey he can be," Callaway said. "He kind of told us that he’s pissed off right now and motivated to show everybody that he can be a starter.”