Harvey and Familia Told They're Going To The Minors

Joel Sherman of the Post wrote that there is a “universal belief within the hierarchy” that Jenrry Mejia and Jeurys Familia are going to end up as late-game relievers.

Additionally, the Mets have told both Familia and Matt Harvey that they are going to the minors to begin the season.

Both of them seemed to suffer from a case of the jitters during their first starts of the spring. I think both of them were feeling the pressure to perform like major leaguers. I expect we’ll see a better performance from both of them the next time they take the mound.

Check out an interview Harvey did with MiLB.com yesterday…

Original Post 3/7

MiLB.com spoke to Mets top prospect Matt Harvey about his pitch repertoire, learning baseball from his father and his journey through the organization.

MiLB.com: You pitched at two levels in your rookie year last season. What positives were you able to take from that?

Matt Harvey: Obviously, this being my first move up in pro baseball, it was a good experience of mentally preparing and staying with my approach no matter where I was. I think I got away from it a little bit right after the move [to Double-A] and I struggled a bit. I finally got to realize that baseball is baseball and that pitching is pitching. No matter which level I’m at or whether I get promoted, I still have to stick with what I can do and stick to my approach.

MiLB.com: You finished the season strong with five wins in your last six starts. How encouraged were you by how well you pitched late in the year?

Harvey: It’s always good to finish strong. I didn’t want to go up to Double-A and have my struggles at the beginning and then continue that through the season, so finishing well was definitely a huge positive for me.

MiLB.com: How would you rate each of your pitches headed into the year?

Harvey: My off-speed is right where I want it. I’ve been throwing some really good changeups, and my curveball is actually far beyond where I expected it to be. And obviously my sinker is working really well for me. It’s just a matter of getting that location a little bit more fine than I’m at right now.

I’ve still got a couple weeks, so I’m looking forward to it. I think I’m going to transfer my slider more into a cutter. Last year, when I threw my curveball and slider, they kind of mixed in with each other, so this season I started messing around with the grips and trying to tighten up the slider a little bit and maybe get a little more velocity and not as much rotation.

MiLB.com: How does the grip you use for the new cutter differ from the slider you used last year?

Harvey: I hold the cutter a little bit more like a fastball and offset my hands a little bit. Basically it’s like a four-seam fastball that I just hold on the side a tiny, tiny bit. Then I just throw it like a fastball and let the grip take over to cause some cut. The slider obviously is more of an off-speed pitch, so I held that different. I’m waiting for a couple more bullpen sessions or live BP to mix it in and hopefully it’ll just be a minor change.