Just Mets

If there’s one thing Matt Harvey has proven in the first half of his first season back from Tommy John Surgery, it is that he is just as human than anyone else who suffered from the same injury.

Much to his chagrin, of course.

But it’s hard to be upset or discouraged with the overall body of work Harvey has compiled over his first 17 starts since returning from the elbow injury. He has posted a 3.07 ERA in 111 1/3 innings so far in 2015 – he has about 79 regular season innings to go this season.

“For me, flushing the first half and going back out the second half with a fresh start is something I’m looking forward to,” Harvey explained. “There were ups and downs obviously. After the hot start, more ups and downs than I expected or wanted.”

Yes there were, but that happens to all pitchers who have dealt with this trying injury. There was a period in late May and early June when he clearly hit the inevitable wall most hit during the process. He posted a 7.20 ERA in four starts from May 23-June 10 while allowing eight home runs in only 25 innings.

To put that figure in perspective, he had only allowed 12 home runs in 237 2/3 innings in 2012 and 2013 combined.

But he has pushed through that wall and pitched extremely well since June 10, posting a 1.71 ERA while allowing only two home runs in 31 1/3 innings since.

He capped his strong finish to the first half with a great effort to deliver a much-needed win against the Diamondbacks on Saturday, allowing just two first inning runs in seven innings with nine strikeouts to earn his eighth win of the year and first since June 16.

“I really wanted to do everything I could to keep the team within striking distance,” Harvey explained. “When you look up at the scoreboard and it’s 2-0 and you only faced two batters, the last thing you want to do is keep that rolling.

“I really just had to buckle down and try to pound the zone as much as possible,” Harvey continued. I wasn’t happy about the first two batters, so at that point I needed to put up zeroes. Fortunately enough I was able to do that.”

Harvey wasn’t completely on top of his game in the first three innings. Things were looking eerily similar to his last start against the Dodgers when he lacked rhythm and command of all of his pitches. But he found the comfort zone starting in the third inning with his fastball, and he was able to rely on pinpoint control with that pitch for much of the afternoon.

Then in the sixth inning, Harvey found his slider and curveball, and from that point on it was lights out for the Diamondbacks.

But for one day, Harvey’s pitching was a footnote to the afternoon.

Harvey hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the fifth inning to give the Mets a 3-2 win, something they would not relinquish.

It was Harvey’s first home run of his career.

“When they were calling for replay, I was thinking I was going to be sitting in the dugout and going back out to second base,” Harvey said. “Fortunately enough, it was a home run and put us on top and was a big hit.”

Harvey said due to his struggles on the mound, his focus has been improving his pitching while working less on his hitting.

“I think the big thing going around now is that we [pitchers] can rake, and I wasn’t doing my job very well. The last couple of weeks I really haven’t been swinging too much. I’ve been trying to concentrate on pitching and my mechanics pitching-wise. That was mainly the concentration. For me, I was just able to put a good swing on it.”

It hasn’t been an easy ride for Harvey. The problem is, as he said on Saturday, he probably expected this process to be smoother. Yet, he still has an ERA around 3.00, and could arguably be an All-Star in another year with his performance.

“As Matt continues to get stronger and continues to go through the post-surgery thing, he’s going to be as good as he ever was,” Terry Collins said after Saturday’s win. “Because, he’s got the same makeup as ever.”

All things considered, Harvey has been very impressive, delivered some big wins for the club, and has shown that when he is fully past this process, he is still very capable of being the best pitcher in baseball.