The Mets hoped to make their first major attempt at rebuilding their farm system in last night’s amateur draft, but Amazin’ alumnus Frank Viola said he thinks there is some reason for optimism already — largely because of the team’s top pick from a year ago, Matt Harvey.
“Harvey is the real deal,” said Viola, who has spent time in Port St. Lucie in preparation for his first season as the pitching coach for the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets rookie level Class-A affiliate.
“He’s got tremendous upside,” Viola, who pitched for the Mets from 1989-91 said of the 22-year-old right-hander. “They just don’t want rush him. He’s got poise, composure and he knows he’s good, but he doesn’t have a chip on his shoulders.”
Viola saw Harvey, the seventh pick overall out of North Carolina, pitch in several spring training games before he started the season with Class-A St. Lucie, where he is 5-2 with a 2.67 ERA, thanks in part to a mid-90s fastball.
“The best thing about him is that he has a game-plan,” said Viola, who was at MLB headquarters in Midtown yesterday at the first-year player draft luncheon. “Kids do not have a routine. They don’t follow through and repeat. He’s so far ahead of the curve in knowing what he needs to do to get where he is going.”
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The Mets will find out today if Carlos Beltran can play tonight in Milwaukee after leaving Sunday’s game against the Braves with a bruise above his right shin — the result of a foul ball that broke the right fielder’s shin guard and left him dizzy and nauseous.
If Beltran is unable to go, Jason Pridie is expected to be in right, with Jason Bay back in the lineup in left field after getting Sunday off.
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Jose Reyes has been the exception for the Mets: He hasn’t had any problems with his health or production. Still, all 10 of his triples have come at Citi Field.
“I don’t want to say it’s the perfect place for me to play, but there’s a lot of space,” Reyes said. “I know I can hit a triple anyplace I play.”