The presence of an innings limit for Matt Harvey has become a source of tension between the New York Mets and agent Scott Boras.

[Roundtable: Which pitchers are poised for a Jake Arrieta-like breakout?]. While Alderson has mentioned a “soft” innings cap for Harvey, Boras objected to that language and has been vocal in his stance that Harvey should be shut down once he hits 180 pitches.

The Mets and Boras were aligned two years ago in persuading Harvey to undergo Tommy John surgery at a time when the ace was pondering rehab over the procedure. In Heyman’s report, Boras indicated that Harvey’s surgeon, Dr. James Andrews, did not want Harvey to exceed 180 innings as a measure of “maximum safety” for his long term future.

“This is not a club’s decision”. Meanwhile, Boras is pushing that the doctor-recommended 180-inning limit should not be surpassed. “Any club that chooses to defy a surgeon’s wishes is putting the player in peril”. These precautions are all being made with the hope that Harvey will be available to pitch in the postseason, if the Mets make it there.

The decision will ultimately come down to Sandy Alderson and the Mets front office, who say that the limit is a soft limit.

That plan would appear to give Harvey as many as four more regular-season starts, including Tuesday against the Washington Nationals. Alderson said it has been his understanding that they mostly need to avoid “fatigue” or a loss of “rhythm” (that means he can’t be expected to pick up and pitch after a lengthy layoff). Harvey is already at 166 1/3 innings this season, so he would have about two more starts before he would be shut down for the season.

As they enter the stretch run with a six-game divisional lead, the Mets are looking ahead to the playoffs, dreaming of Matt Harvey on the mound. He believes the best way to do that is to listen to the doctors.

“These are doctors’ opinions”, said Boras, who contended his priority is his client’s health, not money. And then, whenever Harvey next endures any sort of muscle strain or elbow tweak or anything worse, local sports-talk radio will explode with callers and hosts blaming the Mets for their 2015 recklessness even if pitchers get hurt all the time and there’s not a ton of evidence that prescribed innings limits do much to prevent that from happening.

Alderson allowed that there may be a “slightly enhanced” risk of Harvey logging more than their targeted limit. Stephen Strasburg was having a marvelous season for the Nationals when everyone involved, except Strasburg, decided it was in the pitcher’s best interest to adhere to the 180-inning limit and shut the right-hander down for the rest of the season.