Terry Collins says former Mets pitcher Matt Harvey talked about suicide

Former Mets ace Matt Harvey discussed his own drug usage during his Tuesday testimony in the trial of Eric Kay, who is accused in the death of former Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, and Harvey’s former manager Terry Collins says the 32-year-old discussed suicide during his time in New York.

Mike Puma of the New York Post spoke to Collins by phone on Tuesday about Harvey’s time with the team, and Collins explained that Harvey’s off-field behavior was addressed by the Mets’ mental skills coach.

“Certainly, that was addressed,” Collins told New York Post. “Again, it’s Matt, and one time he talked about, ‘I should just kill myself.’ … You try to deal with it the best you can. We certainly tried to get him help, get him some assistance.”

Per the New York Post, while Collins and the team never accused Harvey directly of using cocaine, the situation was addressed as “Look, you have got to clean up your off-the-field situation.”

Harvey testified Tuesday, according to ESPN’s T.J. Quinn, that he used cocaine during his time with the Mets and Angels.

Asked by the New York Post if that news came as a surprise, Collins said the answer is “probably not.”

“There was a testing program going on throughout Major League Baseball. We weren’t allowed to do any of our own stuff,” Collins said. “There were accusations that were being thrown around the clubhouse, for sure, but I had no proof of it at all. I can just tell you what guys were saying.

“There was a time I addressed an off-the-field issue with one of the other guys on the team and his statement was, ‘Well, I’m not doing what Matt Harvey is doing.’ I said, ‘This isn’t about Matt Harvey, this is about you.’ I tried to get off that subject as fast as I could. Was there knowledge in the clubhouse? Without question.”

Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room on July 1, 2019, and an autopsy later revealed that he had fentanyl, oxycodone, and alcohol in his system.

Harvey testified that in addition to his own use of cocaine and oxycodone, he also had been asked by Skaggs to share Percocet pills before “a couple” of road trips. Harvey also testified that Skaggs received pills from Kay and another supplier in California.

Kay, formerly the Angels communications director, has pled not guilty to two counts — one alleging that he possessed and distributed a controlled substance and the other accusing him of “knowingly and intentionally” providing Skaggs with fentanyl.