IN A STATE OF ‘SHOCK’

Harvey rebound key in ’18

MATT Harvey’s prediction last week about the Mets potentially shocking a lot of people this season, especially if their starting rotation remains healthy, truly wasn’t that far off from reality.

The surprising part, at least based on what we saw last season from him on and off the field, would be for Harvey to reestablish himself as a significant contributor to such a resurgence, and thereby regain even part of the form that once had him hailed as the superhero starter on this side of town — at least before his budding career was derailed by a few serious injuries and off-field exploits.

Harvey’s initial start of 2018 was pushed back one day by New York’s latest spring snow storm, and he instead will face the Phillies tonight at Citi Field.

A healthy and productive season from the erstwhile Dark Knight in his free-agent walk year could be a key factor in determining just how much his bold shock-and-awe proclamation comes true.

“I said it in spring training, I think a lot of people in the past and obviously since what happened last year, there’s maybe some doubts about what we can do,” Harvey said last week at Citi Field. “I used the words, ‘shocking a lot of people,’ and I think that’s the truth.

“I think we’re going to go out and everybody’s doing their part to stay as healthy as they possibly can, whether it’s in the training room getting treatment or doing extra stretching or extra work in the weight room, just to make sure that we can stay on the field. I think we continue to use that word — that we’re going to shock a lot of people, we’re going to be getting after people and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Top starters Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, who posted wins in the first two games of the season before Steven Matz dropped Sunday’s series finale against St. Louis, will follow Harvey against the Phillies, with No.5 starter Seth Lugo being skipped in the first turn through the rotation due to Monday’s snow-out.

After several years of recuperating from major surgeries — a Tommy John procedure and another to combat Thoracic Outlet Syndrome — Harvey insists he has felt healthy throughout spring training. And he truly had only one poor outing among five spring starts, March 10 against the Yankees (five earned runs in 4.2 innings).

We will begin to see whether his work with new manager Mickey Callaway and pitching coach Dave Eiland will translate into Harvey recording outs consistently and working deeper into games better than he did last year, when the former All-Star typically struggled maintaining his arm strength in his first season following TOS surgery.

The 29-year-old righty finished the year just 5-7 with a whopping 6.70 ERA and a terrible 1.694 WHIP over 19 appearances in a hellish season that also featured the team issuing Harvey a threegame suspension for failing to show up to a game in May.

“I think I’m just kind of going at things day by day instead of looking at the big picture,” Harvey said. “Obviously, being healthy this year, being able to do the normal day-today stuff in the training room and the weight room, being able to be more on a schedule is making things a lot easier. And getting the strength back and getting the normal work done in-between starts and not having to worry about having pain or trying to bounce back from a surgery, it’s definitely nice.

“I think throughout spring, the biggest thing with Dave and Mickey was maintaining mechanics throughout a long period of time and a long start, and I felt like I was able to do that pretty well. That’s the main focus going into the season, keeping the mechanics and all the work in-between starts the same.” f he can do that, if he can provide even adequate innings from the back of the rotation he once fronted, perhaps Harvey has a bit of a personal shock in store for those who have written him off as a contributor to a potential rapid turnaround by the

Mets.

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