The Keepers - #2 - RHSP - Matt Harvey

2.             SP Matt Harvey

North Carolina – 6-4, 230 - … was 3^rd round pick by the Angels out of high school and turned down a $1mil offer. Low-90s fastball that touches 95. Excellent curveball… average changeup… comes from ¾ arm slot… changeup 78-81… breaking ball 76-79… works quickly from stretch… 2009: 7-2, 5.35, 78K, 70.2 IP… BA ranks him as the #1 sophomore of the 2009 season…  

10. Matt Harvey – North Carolina – 6-4, 230 - … was 3rd round pick by the Angels out of high school and turned down a $1mil offer. Low-90s fastball that touches 95. Excellent curveball… average changeup… comes from ¾ arm slot… changeup 78-81… breaking ball 76-79… works quickly from stretch… 2009: 7-2, 5.35, 78K, 70.2 IP… BA ranks him as the #1 sophomore of the 2009 season…

3-5-11: - Up:  -  Harvey finally pitched for the Mets, on Saturday, against the Italian team that is being coached by Mike Piazza. Word from the camp was he sat in the 92-93 range and pitched a scoreless inning. Welcome to the team, Matt.  

3-22-11: - Up: - SP Matt Harvey – pitched Tuesday in minor league game, throwing 76-curve, 86-mph slider and fastball up to 98…  this is why you draft a quality pitcher with your first round pick, regardless of what the bonus has to be. There are only some many of these studs available every draft and you just know the Mets already have plans for him hitting Queens by all-star weekend 2012. 

4-7-11 - Matt Harvey started a little rocky… walking two and giving up a single in the first. Saved his own ass with terrific pickoff throw to Flores to take down runner at second. An even stranger second inning…  three singles, no runs, and three strikeouts. He moved his strikeout total to six after three innings. He left after five… no runs and nine strikeouts. What more can I say?

5-4-11: - Matt Harvey had given up only four earned runs all season and all of them came in his last outing against the same team he pitched again tonight. The organization needed a boost and Harvey game through. 9-Ks in 6.1-IP and ERA lowered to 1.10.

5-10-11: - Well, it looks like those of you that wanted Matt Harvey to pitch in Binghamton are going to have to wait for some more turns. Nothing seemed to work… batter hit by pitch, two homers, one a grand slam, and a fastball that only hit 93. It just was a bad outing from a very good pitcher. 3.2-IP, 7-H, 8-ER.

5-27-11: - Okay, Friday night was Harvey’s 10th start in A+ and the league has seen enough. He put up seven more shutout innings while striking out ten and it’s time for him to join his pitching bud, Jeurys Familia, in Binghamton. These two guys, plus a fully healed Jenrry Mejia, represent the future of the Mets beginning in 2013. Some still have their doubts, while others think they could see Queens next year. I really believe at this point that both these guys are for real, but neither should be rushed in 2012. Let them finish 2011 in Binghamton. Bring them to camp with the big boys in 2012, and start them off in Buffalo on opening day. Mejia should be pitching there by June and the Binghamton staff will feature Greg Peavey, Matt Barnes, and Josh Osich. Familia didn’t have as great a night as Harvey (3-ER in 5.0-IP, 7-K), but the strikeouts are still there, and his AA ERA is still 2.25. That comes to 10 starts in A+/AA, 60.1-IP, 12-ER, and 57-K while only 17-BB. I have no problem with these numbers.

6-26-11: - I can’t begin to remember how many times we have written about the difficulty of going from A+ to AA. There are very few bad baseball players at this level and, in order for a pitcher to excel here, he must pitch, not throw. Matt Harvey got his first lesson yesterday: 4.2-IP, 9-H, 4-ER, 4-K, 2-BB, 7.71. Hey, it’s only one game and, frankly, every future start needs a couple of these to keep them honest.

2-27-12 - Michael Baron was very excited about the bullpen session he watched Matt Harvey throw on Saturday. Mike knows the difference between a good pitcher and a great one, so I’m particularly excited by his comments. As interesting was the fact that he had basically nothing to say about the other pitcher throwing next to him, Jeurys Familia. I assume that means there was that much of a difference between the two of them.