Matt Harvey said he expects to head down to Port St. Lucie when he starts throwing off a mound, which could happen as soon as next month.
Still, he still sounds irritated about his sometimes contentious relationship with Mets brass.
“I guess having a life outside of baseball is sometimes not OK,” Harvey said Thursday. “I live my life. I enjoy going to Rangers games. I enjoy going to Knicks games. I’m a big sports fan, so going to games is not something I’m going to change doing. I can’t help what people think.”
The Mets at least will be pleased Harvey agrees it’s best he go to Florida once he takes the next step in his rehab from offseason Tommy John surgery. He said he “can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
“I’ll need to face some hitters in batting practice,” Harvey said at the MLB Fan Cave in lower Manhattan at an event sponsored by Delta. “I’m not gonna come to Citi Field and ask David Wright to take extra batting practice off me while I’m trying to find the strike zone.”
The Mets preferred Harvey do his entire rehab at their facility in Port St. Lucie, but the right-handed balked and eventually won the right to spend homestands with the team in New York and work in Florida when the Mets are on the road.
That was just one of several differences of opinion the pitcher has had with the Mets. He also has drawn the organization’s ire with some of his off-field activities, comments and Twitter humor. Asked why he frequently found himself in the middle of controversy, Harvey again took a swipe.
“I have no idea,” Harvey said. “Being a good teammate, being a good friend is most important to me.”
His latest clash with Mets bosses occurred last month on the six-month anniversary of his elbow surgery when he posted a picture of himself flipping the bird before heading into the procedure. In the fallout, he deleted his Twitter account.
Asked if he missed Twitter, Harvey responded: “No, I do not.”