NEW YORK — A Citi Field-record sellout crowd of 43,947 filed into the six-year-old ballpark Monday afternoon for a New York Mets home opener started by the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, right-hander Jacob deGrom.
But make no mistake: The buzz Monday was not about deGrom but right-hander Matt Harvey, who is scheduled to start at home Tuesday for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery on Oct. 22, 2013.
Harvey received the loudest applause when he was introduced prior to the Mets’ 2-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. The 26-year-old, well accustomed to being the center of attention, milked the moment, first by acknowledging the ovation with a barely perceptible nod before he touched the brim of his cap on which his sunglasses neatly resided.
“I don’t want to make a story about it,” Harvey said a few hours earlier during a press conference at his locker.
But Harvey is always the story. After building some anticipation during a 10-start cameo at the end of the 2012 season, Harvey became baseball’s most captivating pitcher in 2013, when he went 9-5 with a 2.27 ERA and 191 strikeouts over 178 1/3 innings. Harvey carried no-hitters into the seventh inning three times — including May 7, when he set down the first 20 Chicago White Sox batters he faced before surrendering an infield single to outfielder Alex Rios — and started for the National League in the All-Star Game at Citi Field.
His ascent came to a stunning halt on Aug. 24, 2013 — two days after he gave up a career-high 13 hits over 6 2/3 innings in a no-decision against the Detroit Tigers at Citi Field — when an MRI revealed a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Harvey initially balked at undergoing surgery but eventually went under the knife.
Harvey managed to remain in the news last season, when he and the Mets disagreed over where he should rehab — New York or the team’s spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla., — as well as how fast he should try to return to a big-league mound. Harvey wanted to pitch in a major league game, but the Mets purposely slowed him down during the summer so he couldn’t even pitch in a minor league game. His last pitching action, so to speak, of 2014 occurred on Sept. 15, when he threw a simulated game at Citi Field.
There was nothing simulated about his return to a big-league mound last Thursday, when Harvey threw six shutout innings and earned the win as the Mets beat the Washington Nationals, 6-3. He allowed four hits, struck out nine and issued just one walk in what was basically a continuation of the dominance he displayed in spring training. Harvey gave up just three runs over 22 2/3 innings spanning six Grapefruit League starts while striking out 21 and walking just one.
“My biggest day to see Matt Harvey was his first start in spring training, because I knew he was going to ramp it up,” Mets manager Terry Collins said Monday morning. “I knew he was excited to be back out there.”
Now he gets to pitch in front of fans he hasn’t pitched in front of in the last 599 days — and those in the stands Tuesday won’t be the only ones eager to see what Harvey has in store.
“It’s good to get this one out of the way,” Collins said Monday afternoon. “Now we get to see the big boy tomorrow. That’ll be fun.”