No Pressure Dude!
Lights! Camera! Action! Welcome to the Matt Harvey Show everybody!
Whether he’s ready or not, Matt Harvey is set to make his much anticipated debut tonight for the Mets. The 23-year-old Harvey went 7-5 with a 3.68 ERA in 20 starts for the AAA Buffalo Bisons before his call-up. He is probably the most hyped Mets starting pitching prospect since the days of “Generation K” (Although Zach Wheeler, who will be here next year, is WAY more hyped.) . Is Harvey going to be the Mets savior? No. Can he help? Sure. But at this point, it’s going to take a miracle for the Mets to stop this free fall that they are in. Losers of 12 of their last 13, the Mets have gone from 7 games over .500, to 4 games under in just over 2 weeks.
After another dreadful loss yesterday that was filled with fireworks in the dugout, manager Terry Collins vowed that his team would come back from this 11-game road trip resembling the Mets of the first half of the season and not the second half.
That will be a tough task with the Mets facing rookie Wade Miley (11-5 3.02 ERA). Miley had been great for the D-Backs so far this season. He has easily been the D-Backs best pitcher so far this season.
Tonight’s first pitch will be 9:40 PM. The game can be seen on SNY and as always, heard on WFAN 660 AM
Tonight’s Starting Lineups
Mets
1. Tejada SS
2. Murphy 2B
3. Wright 3B
4. Hairston RF
5. Davis 1B
6. Bay LF <—–WHAT IS THIS GUY STILL DOING IN THE LINEUP?!?!?!?
7. Torres CF
8. Johnson C <—Harvey’s catcher at Buffalo
9. Harvey SP
Who’s HOT for the Mets?…Daniel Murphy is 12 for his last 22 (.545) but with only 3 RBI. Pretty much the story of the past 2 weeks. No one on base when he’s at the plate.
Diamondbacks
1. Parra CF
2. Hill 2B
3. Kubel LF
4. Goldschmidt 1B
5. Upton RF
6. Montero C
7. Drew SS
8. Wheeler 3B
9. Miley SP
Who’s HOT for the D’Backs?…The majority of the lineup is really raking right now, but LF Jason Kubel is just mashing the ball right now. In his pas 7 games he’s raking at a .323 clip with 5 HR’s and 9 RBI.
Pitching Matchup
As stated before, Matt Harvey is making his MLB debut tonight. I can only imagine the twitter critiquing after his first pitch. I’m just as excited as anyone for his debut, but I’m also going into this game with the reality that he’s facing a red-hot lineup and will probably get a few mistakes smashed around (or out) of whatever this stadium is called these days. What we know of Harvey via scoutingbook.com…
The seventh overall pick in the 2010 draft, Matt Harvey is a tall righthander from Mystic, Connecticut who pitched his college ball at UNC, where a few tweaks to his high-school delivery paid off with extra cheese on his fastball. He can dial that smooth, easy heat up to 98mph and has a propensity for throwing ground balls. That’s a nice prescription for a major league opportunity. His command is spotty, which has slowed his progression, but it’s nothing out of the norm for such a young, high-upside arm.
For the D’Backs, lefty rookie Wade Miley (11-5 3.02 ERA) has been pitching great. In his last start against the Astros, he went 7 innings with only giving up 1 run. In his 7 innings he struck out 9 batters and only allowed 4 hits. Miley has only 1 career start against the Mets and it was earlier this year. in a 5-4 D’Backs victory he lasted 6 innings and allowed 4 runs, but did not factor in the decision.
