Travis d’Arnaud
FUTURE DYNAMIC DUO: Matt Harvey, who allowed one run on two hits while striking out three over two innings, delivers a pitch to catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud (inset) during the Mets’ 7-7 exhibition tie against the Astros yesterday. (
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KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Here’s to the next decade together.
If Matt Harvey and Travis d’Arnaud wanted to raise a glass before taking the field for the Mets yesterday at Osceola County Stadium, the players could have celebrated their individual abilities and potentials, but also the possibility they were initiating a long, prosperous relationship.
Harvey on the mound and d’Arnaud there to catch for him represents a significant component of the organization’s hopes for the future.
“It’s a matter of getting on the same page with pitch calling and reading batters, and that only takes time,” Harvey said on a day the Mets and Astros played to a 7-7 exhibition tie, called after nine innings. “It’s not going to happen overnight for either of us. He’s not far off and I was very impressed today.”
Harvey pitched two innings, allowing one run on two hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Former Mets prospect Fernando Martinez homered in the second inning for the only run against the right-hander.
The 24-year-old d’Arnaud, who arrived to the Mets in the trade that sent R.A. Dickey to the Blue Jays, was playing his first game since last June, when he tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. The catcher finished 0-for-3 yesterday with two strikeouts and left the game in the fifth inning.
To calm down before the game, d’Arnaud said he listened to classical music. The sounds of Beethoven on the piano did the trick.
“I was just working on getting all the jitters out, my first game back in nine months,” d’Arnaud said. “As far as me and Matt goes, it was my first time catching him and I’ll get to learn how he pitches soon, so we’ve got time.”
Manager Terry Collins already has the 23-year-old Harvey penciled into his rotation, but d’Arnaud is likely to begin the season at Triple-A Las Vegas, with the Mets prepared to begin the year with John Buck and Anthony Recker handling the catching duties unless d’Arnaud has an exceptional camp.
“He’s going to get a lot of playing time down here and we’ll see where it stands when we get to the end,” Collins said.
For Harvey, who spent the final two months of 2012 with the Mets, going 3-5 with a 2.73 ERA, the next five weeks will be spent preparing without the worries of where he’ll begin the season.
“The last three starts I had during the season were pretty good,” Harvey said. “That’s the biggest thing now, keeping that going and trying to remember what I did when things were good and really focusing on the lower half of the [strike] zone.
“Today I obviously got up a little bit, but that’s being out there, that’s being excited about being back on the mound against a different team.”
If Harvey had a complaint, it was he needed 39 pitches to finish two innings. It was because of pitch counts that Harvey didn’t work as deeply into games as he would have liked last season.
“I feel great where my body’s at and the arm feels great,” Harvey said. “I feel like I have good velocity. I’m really close, so I’m excited about that.”
Collins would like to see Harvey get batters to chase more pitches.
“One of the things he did last year when he was most successful was he knew when to go out of the zone to get a swing,” Collins said. “But he’s a workaholic, so he’ll get it.”