Petey Shoots Top Prospect Matt Harvey…
With His Camera, Silly...
Our own Petey Pete was on assignment this week covering the Buffalo Bisons on the road in Lehigh Valley as they took on the Iron Pigs. One of his many great moments included watching Matt Harvey toss an absolute gem… Well, I’ll just let him tell you all about it… JD
Sitting behind home plate on Wednesday and watching Matt Harvey deal, at 10:45am, I almost felt sorry for the hapless Iron Pigs hitters…..almost. It was not going to be their day, and they may have even wished they had stayed under-the-covers that morning, and called in sick.
(click on any photo to embiggen)
Harvey was virtually unhittable. He operated like a surgeon, slicing his way through the Iron Pigs line-up with a power curveball that was as sharp as any scalpel. He didn’t need to have razor-sharp control, but he did. He didn’t need to be dishing mid-90’s heat, but he did. He didn’t need to pound the lower part of the zone with every pitch, but he did. He threw 90 pitches (66 for strikes) over seven innings, and was simply masterful, and I don’t care who you threw out there to hit against him today, he was a tough, nasty assignment for any hitter to take on.
He only struck out five in his seven innings of work, but the K’s don’t tell the story. Players were swinging and getting a piece, but very few of the Pigs squared him up. He only gave up solid, well struck hits twice, on a single and a double in the 6th inning. Here is how much trouble the Iron Pigs had in making solid contact today against Harvey.
In the first inning, the Pigs went down: fly-out, ground out, strikeout. In the second: ground out, pop-out, pop-out. The third: ground out, strikeout, ground out. Fourth: ground out, strikeout, strikeout. Fifth: ground ball single, fly-out, soft single to CF, ground out, strikeout. Sixth: single, fly-out, fly-out, double, pop-out. Seventh: ground out, ground out, ground ball error, ground out. Mix in a two-run home run, and Harvey had quite a day for himself.
In talking to manager Wally Backman yesterday about his two talented, right-handed power pitchers, Harvey and Familia, Wally suggested they might both find themselves with September call-ups, if they stay healthy and continue their development. After watching Harvey pitch yesterday, the timetable for him may have just been moved up.
There are still other starters in line for promotions if another Mets starter were to go down. Deserving pitchers like Jeremy Hefner, and Garrett Olson. But with Schwinden up in Flushing with the big boys, Harvey is getting closer by the day.
