OF PACE
walked the pitcher, which is not ideal. And then things kind of unraveled. I was happy with settling back in.”
Harvey pitched a scoreless fourth and fifth innings, and struck out the side in the fifth before departing. Aside from his satisfying outing, Harvey also showed off his PFP (pitchers’ fielding practice) drills. In the second inning, Lewis Brinson tried to score from third on a passed ball, but catcher Kevin Plawecki executed an Army roll — “a little tumble action,” Plawecki called it — and fired the ball to Harvey, who tagged out Brinson at the plate.
“It was just kind of a do or die situation. I was there to get to it quick and put a good throw on it. Harv made a good catch and tag,” said Plawecki. “We do work on wild pitch drills and recovery type stuff. Brinson’s fast, too, so I honestly didn’t know if it was even going to be close or not.” “It was a fun little play that we had there — something we work on the back fields all the time. You don’t really think it’s ever going to happen,” added Harvey. “That one worked pretty good.” Harvey made only 18 starts last year and had an extended stint on the disabled list for a stress injury to his scapula bone in his pitching shoulder. Harvey will join a prized list of free agents after this season, so 2018 will go a long way toward improving his value if he can stay healthy and regain the form he showed in 2013 before a string of setbacks. He had Tommy John surgery at the end of 2013, missed all of 2014, and was 13-8 in 2015. A year later, he was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and missed most of 2016 after July surgery. Last season he was 5-7 with a 6.70 ERA. “I think (Harvey’s) getting more and more comfortable. He’s out there with confidence. That’s going to be the main key for him,” said Callaway after the Mets’ 7-6 loss. “He has great stuff. I think he’s pounding the zone, getting ahead in the count. You can tell things don’t bother him when things go bad. Guys that are out there expecting things to go bad or waiting for things to go bad, it’s tough to pitch like that and have success.” A healthy Harvey would only add to a still-formidable rotation — including Opening Day starter Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, who pitches in Game 2 of the regular season — and if Callaway’s starters are able to avoid the trainer’s room this season, perhaps a 2015 World Series run redux is in the making. “It’s kind of unfortunate what happ e n e d with Jake with this little setback (back tightness earlier in spring training) because of what he did last year and we weren’t all able to do,” said Harvey. “But the way Noah’s throwing the ball, coming out throwing 100 (mph) pretty much every game, striking out everybody out, it’s kind of hard not to give the big guy the nod. Once we all click, it’s gonna be fun.” SIMMONS/NEWS