While Matt Harvey looked fantastic during his first start of spring training, his next outing against Miami wasn’t nearly as impressive. Harvey pitched 2.2 innings and allowed two runs, six hits and a walk. However, Harvey has no worries about his progress recovering from Tommy John surgery (Adam Rubin).
“Certain weeks you feel a little bit better than others, especially during spring training,” Harvey said after Sunday’s 8-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. “I talked to [pitching coach] Dan [Warthen] about it. And he said a lot of the time, the second start is a little sluggish. For me, I definitely felt that. Other than that, everything feels great.”
He feels fresh again,” Warthen said. “Like he said, his body was a little sluggish. He still came out [with] regular velocity the last time out. He was just up in the zone. So I look for him to go out there and be Matt Harvey again tomorrow.”
Harvey will make his third start this afternoon at 1:05 PM against the Boston Red Sox. Harvey’s overall ERA this spring is 3.86 and his WHIP is 1.50.
“I’ve never pitched against the Red Sox during spring training. I know we play them this year [Aug. 28-30]. So it’s going to be good to get over there and get used to their lineup a little bit. It’s nice knowing that the pitch counts are increasing and the workload is going up, so that’s always a good sign. And it’s a good sign we’re getting close to the season.”
