PORT ST. LUCIE — Dan Warthen thinks another year removed from Tommy John surgery will make a sizable difference for Matt Harvey.
“To me, Harvey had the best year of all of them last year, if only for the fact that he didn’t have his electric fastball. He didn’t have his slider for a good part of the year,” the Mets pitching coach said. “But he learned how to pitch. With that, that second-gear fastball that he has comes into play this year. Right now, he looks in great shape. That’s special.”
The website FanGraphs, which grades pitches, valuated Harvey’s 2015 fastball as 16.2 runs above average and his slider as 7.7 runs above average. In 2013, those measures were 29.9 and 4.4.
Asdrubal Cabrera and Alejandro De Aza are the remaining Mets players who have not reported to spring training. Wednesday is the deadline to report, and the first full squad workout is slated for two days later.
— Additional reporting by Mike Puma