In the years I've covered professional baseball, I have cared far less about whether a given player speaks to the media after a bad performance than the player’s teammates have cared.

Many, many players -- mostly position players -- have approached me in the clubhouse after a tough game and asked whether a struggling teammate had answered questions from the media. It's like big brothers checking on the behavior of a little brother. That's because the vast majority of Major League Baseball players have viewed this as an important test of accountability.

My feeling is that if somebody chooses to bypass interaction with reporters, as Matt Harvey did Tuesday night after he was hammered for three homers in five innings, seeing his ERA climb to 6.08, that's his or her prerogative -- but in choosing silence, that person also forfeits the right to complain about what was reported.