A pitch that eluded Matt Harvey for his 2015 campaign has made its comeback during the off-season and he showed it off brilliantly in his start against the Miami Marlins this past Sunday. Matt Ehalt of NorthJersey.com spoke with the Dark Knight about the return of his slider.
“It’s big,” Harvey said. “Any time you can add another weapon and it happens to be one of your best pitches, it’s definitely helpful. Having thrown it quite a bit last start and being able to use it more effectively this start, it’s going in the right direction. We’re all pretty excited about that.”
Harvey, who will be entering the 2016 season with no innings limit, is ready to go and already looks to have some of his stuff in mid-season form. Matt’s battery mate, Travis d’Arnaud evaluated the difference in the slider compared to the previous year.
“It’s sharper. It bites later. It moves more [in] depth than I remember from last year,” d’Arnaud said. “It started getting sharper and sharper and sharper throughout last season, and now it’s got late action and it’s really hard to pick up.”
The slider was not the only pitch that has been turning heads so far, as the velocity on Harvey’s fastballs have been great this spring. He really put in quite a masterful performance during the Mets 11-0 trumping of the Marlins, living in the 97-99 mph range throughout his outing. Yes it is just spring training, but it is also great to see Harvey looking this good so early.
“He was electric,” d’Arnaud said. “Nice and easy exploding out of his hand, good downward angle. He was able to locate in all four quadrants of the zone with all four of his pitches he had command of. We were able to mix in some fun sequences and pitch.”
Last season, Harvey had a stunning return from Tommy John surgery, posting a 2.71 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 8.9 K9, and .221 BAA in 29 starts.
Matt Harvey will without a doubt be one of the most talked about players this season by not just Mets fans, but the national baseball media as well. It should be a fun ride for number 33, who for the first time in awhile can just sit back and do his thing without having to worry about any talk of innings counts.
