Just Mets

Since Matt Harvey burst onto the scene in the summer of 2012, all eyes have been on every move he makes. During that early time, Harvey has risen to stardom with his incredible early-career performance on the mound and lived a very public lifestyle in the process.

Harvey has become a celebrity of sorts very early in his career, and his star only continues to shine brighter with each passing day. It’s remarkable considering he essentially has one year of big league pitching experience – he has made 36 career starts for the Mets, winning 12 of them. In fact, he has spent more time on the sidelines recovering from Tommy John Surgery than he has on a big league mound in his career.

He is as marketable as any pro athlete can be, obviously.

Having said that, Harvey believes he has been somewhat misrepresented in the media, telling ESPN in an upcoming E:60 documentary the portrayal of his lifestyle has created an inaccurate image of who he is.

”From the things I’ve read, I think I’ve been portrayed in kind of a way that makes me look like I don’t put effort into winning. I think that’s completely the wrong portrayal of the person that I am,” Harvey explained to ESPN. ”When people are getting on me for being at Ranger game at 7 o’clock at night, they don’t see what I’ve done between yoga, Pilates, workout, thrown, ran, done all of my work by 5 o’clock, ate, and then went to the game. Nobody’s seeing that. Nobody’s commenting on that.”

Harvey received public scrutiny after being seen at Yankee Stadium during Derek Jeter’s final home game of his career last September.

‘I didn’t go to the game as a fan of the Yankees. I didn’t go cheering on Derek Jeter,” Harvey explained. “I went to pay the man respect who did so much for baseball and represented New York in such a great way.”

David Wright, who was also interviewed for the documentary, said of his appearance at Yankee Stadium, ”To each their own. That probably wouldn’t have been the choice that personally I make.”

I first met Harvey when he was making his debut with Single-A St. Lucie back in 2011. He stood out because he was Harvey, the previous year’s top draft pick who was supposed to be on the fast track to the big leagues. He was generally quiet, but not unlike his teammates. In other words, just a normal player trying to get to the big leagues.

Harvey was warming up before one of his early season outings that year, and I remember watching him in the bullpen with his uncle. He told me how incredibly focused his nephew was and how extremely hard he works towards preparing for each individual outing. An otherwise friendly and down to earth kid who has an incredible personality and sense of humor, his uncle told me you can never, ever speak to the kid on game day – he would just shut everyone out because he was so focused on his outing that day or night.

It speaks to the kind of athlete Harvey is – sure he wants to be successful and make big bucks like everyone else who has success. Don’t we all? But, he also is incredibly dedicated, focused, and determined to win. I mean, what more can we or the Mets ask for? Ok, he lives a very public and lavish lifestyle, he hangs out with other celebrities and professional athletes, dates women like a lot of other people in the world.

Could he have made some different choices? As Wright said, to each his own.

He still shows up early to the ballpark, works his ass off, and continues to be flat out amazing on the mound, and that’s all I care about.

Again, Harvey is a celebrity, partially by his own doing. Where he goes, the cameras follow. It’s just the way it is. That ESPN did this documentary on Harvey, who has spent more time on the disabled list than he has pitching in the Major Leagues, shows the kind of star power, influence and marketability Harvey possesses, and that’s ok. It’s good for his brand, and it’s really good for Mets brand and image.

As he said, as long as he stays out of trouble and is doing his job, who cares what he does when he’s not at the ballpark.

The E:60 documentary premieres Saturday ay 7 PM on ESPN.