(
)
This is the night Matt Harvey has been waiting for his entire pitching life.
The Mets, already in a world of hurt, need Harvey to rise to the challenge tonight and beat Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals.
You can be sure Harvey, the young power right-hander who is making only the 14th start of his major league career, will give it his best shot at Citi Field.
“He knows exactly who he is facing,’’ manager Terry Collins said yesterday in the Colorado cold as the Mets lost their third straight to the Rockies, 11-3. “He’s not one of these guys who just says, ‘I’ll take the next game.’ He knows what’s going on and who he is facing. He’s a competitor, that’s what we saw when he got called up a year ago — we saw a different animal than what we read about. And the reason is, the stage changed.
“What we saw on the mound, his demeanor and everything else changed. I know he’ll be ready, because he’s facing one of the best teams in the game.’’
Since the first time I saw Harvey pitch in 2011 in the Florida State League, I’ve said he will be the rock the Mets will build on, and he has not disappointed. He is the son of a coach, a player you can lean on, and the Mets need to lean on him tonight.
They are already losing sight of the Braves. But this is not about the NL East race, this is about something bigger: the Mets showing they can be a legitimate team, a team with a future.
One win can point the way.
If Harvey draws a big crowd to Citi Field with this premium pitching matchup and the Mets have success tonight, this will be the kind of victory that offers hope. The Mets need hope.
It was another dark day yesterday when they learned Catcher of the Future Travis d’Arnaud is out with a broken foot. D’Arnaud took a foul ball off his left foot Wednesday night playing for Triple-A Las Vegas and suffered the injury. Last year with the Blue Jays, d’Arnaud was going to get the call up to the majors when he injured his knee breaking up a double play and was done for the year.
Sadly, the roll of the dice has not worked out for d’Arnaud. You have to feel for him.
So here we are, just 15 games into the season and the Mets have hit a critical point on the field and in their future. It is up to Harvey to come up big tonight to put a stop to the bad vibes. He is 3-0 with an 0.82 ERA. Over 22 innings he has struck out 25 batters and surrendered only six hits and six walks.
Before the Mets officially opened camp, Collins was asked what kind of year he was hoping for from Harvey. Collins said if Harvey could pitch 200 innings, he might win 17 games.
Relaying that information to Harvey, he smiled and said: “I’d like to add three to that. That’s where my head is always going to be at — 20-plus is what I’m going to strive for every year.’’
He is a pitching beast who will accept all challenges. He is locking up hitters with his high fastball. As he said that day in Port St. Lucie, “Mediocre is not OK for me. It’s never been OK. That’s how I play, that’s how I was raised.’’
“He loves the big stage, and that’s what he’s on,’’ Collins said yesterday. “He’s got a big challenge and if you look at some of the games he’s had to pitch, they have been against some pretty impressive guys, and he’s getting another one.’’
The big stage is set for Matt Harvey. Expect one terrific show.