Today in St. Lucie, Matt Harvey tossed 20 pitches on flat ground to bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello, who was 60 feet away.
It was the first time that Harvey has tossed a baseball since undergoing Tommy John surgery exactly four months ago today.
Harvey said the surgery, performed by Dr. James Andrews, involved taking a right wrist tendon and wrapping it around the damaged elbow ligament three times.
“I feel brand new. Absolutely brand new,” Harvey said. “… I technically have four ligaments in there, I guess. They’re happy with one or two wraps. Mine was long enough where he could wrap it three times.”
About his performance this morning, the big righthander said:
“It was awesome,” Harvey told reporters. “I know it was 20 throws at 60 feet, but everything felt absolutely amazing.”
“I felt very good,. I’m kind of surprised, actually. Going into it, I didn’t really know what to expect. Obviously the first throw was right where I wanted it. Things went really well.”
Harvey suggested he will focus on command early in his throwing program, which will cause him not to stress over velocity right now.
He also suggested that he does not want to make a big deal everytime he tosses a bullpen moving forward.
“I don’t want to have to do this every time I pick up a ball,” Harvey said, referring to Saturday’s media session. “I don’t think that’s fair to me. I don’t think it’s fair to the team.
Anyway, the news continues to be all good on Harvey, who is progressing rapidly and without any setbacks…
Read the full account with all the quotes at ESPN New York.
(Updated 2/22)
