BEST KNIGHT EVER
After two ugly seasons, Harvey convinced he can surpass glory days
Matt Harvey, more than a year and a half removed from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, is convinced he can put his troubles, both on and off the field, behind him. “I’ve got a lot left in the tank. I’m ready to go,” he said in his first press conference of the spring.
PORT ST. LUCIE — Matt Harvey’s career has trended closer to “Goodnight” than “Dark Knight” over the last two seasons with the Mets, but that won’t stop the former stud pitcher from shooting for past glory in 2018.
“Going into this year, I strive to be better than I was before,” Harvey said in a dugout news conference Thursday. “There’s no reason I can’t. I’m 28, 29 years old. I’ve got a lot left in the tank. I’m ready to go.”
There was the thoracic outlet syndrome, for which the right-hander underwent surgery, that cost Harvey the second half of 2016. Last year, Harvey endured a stress injury to his right scapula that left him on the disabled list for 2 ¹/₂ months. When he resurfaced, he pitched to an 11.28 ERA over his final six appearances, raising questions whether he would return to the Mets.
Ultimately, team brass leaned heavily on the recommendations of new manager Mickey Callaway and pitching coach Dave Eiland, who saw enough on tape to believe Harvey’s career could be salvaged.
Over the last two seasons Harvey, who turns 29 next month, is 9-17 with a 5.78 ERA — numbers that would leave most pitchers searching for work. Instead, the arbitrationeligible Harvey was tendered a contract that will pay him $5.63 million this season.
“We want the challenge of helping this guy out,” Callaway said. “He deserves it, and when he’s good, the upside is very high and we just knew that if we let this guy go, it’s going to be very hard to find a guy with the upside that this kid has.
“We love the stuff and our phone calls with Matt at the time were very positive, it seemed like he was in a real good place and that kind of led to that recommendation [to the front office].”
Last season’s nightmare included the three-game suspension Harvey received in May after he failed to show up at Citi Field — he had attempted to call in sick and later admitted he partied too hard the previous night. The following month he was headed to the disabled list after an uninspiring string of performances.
“I’m not going to answer any questions about last year,” Harvey said. “New year. People make mistakes. I’m looking forward to a new season.”
If ever there is a season for Harvey to rebound this will be it. He will hit free agency after the World Series, albeit knowing any deal he receives will be significantly smaller than the Justin Verlander or Max Scherzer- like blockbuster contract for which he seemed destined earlier in his career.
“Any player, one of your goals is to get to free agency,” Harvey said. “It means you played for a long time. Throughout the year, I’m not going to answer any questions about free agency. Our goals as a team are more import ant. Obviously everybody’s human. You always think about free agency. But our main goal is to win and get to where we want to be. That’s in the postseason and winning championships.”
Callaway and Eiland have identified flaws in Harvey’s delivery from last season that the right-hander is tak- ing steps to correct. But ultimately Harvey’s success will likely hinge upon his physical progress from the thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. It’s a procedure from which few pitchers have rebounded completely.
“He can definitively fix [his mechanics], but a lot of that is confidence and the ability to go out there and throw the ball where you want to,” Callaway said. “One of the things that comes along with issues that he was having physically is the feel of the baseball.
“When you can’t feel the baseball the right way and don’t trust that it will go where you want, then you become a more mechanical person and not become the athlete that you want to be. He can definitely fix those bad habits for sure.”
Harvey said Callaway’s con- fidence in him has been a motivating factor this offseason.
“Any time your manager and your pitching coach are fighting to keep you on the team and have a lot of confidence in you, it’s definitely comforting,” Harvey said. “To have their confidence is really the icing on the cake. That made me work a little bit harder.”