PORT ST. LUCIE — The road to success should be paved with gold for Matt Harvey this season.
The second season after Tommy John surgery is a much different world than that first year back.
Just ask Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright, who successfully traveled that road.
“I really enjoyed watching Matt pitch last year,’’ Wainwright, 34, told The Post. “Especially at the end of the season and the postseason. There’s a certain amount of fortitude that comes with pitching through that.’’
This season, Harvey will be even better, the Cardinals’ ace promised.
“What you can expect from him this year is a full year of feeling great,’’ said Wainwright, who missed 2011 with Tommy John surgery, came back in 2012 with a 14-13 mark and 3.94 ERA. In 2014 Wainwright posted a 19-9 record and his ERA dropped a full run to 2.94.
Harvey said he feels fantastic this spring.
After missing all of 2014, Harvey was 13-8 last season with a 2.71 ERA.
“Everything is great,’’ Harvey, 26, told The Post on Saturday. “I feel strong, my arm feels good, my body feels good. I’m really excited about the season.’’
It was a big day Saturday for Zack Wheeler, as he threw off the slope of the mound for the first time since his Tommy John surgery, making 10 throws. He had his surgery last March.
It’s a forever comeback process, though. Wheeler is expected back in July so this is only the start.
“Just getting your feet dirty again back on the mound, it’s big for me, personally,’’ Wheeler said. “It might be small, but it’s big for me.’’
Wainwright, who missed most of last season after tearing his Achilles tendon in April, said you become a better pitcher after having gone through Tommy John surgery because you have to react to pitching when your elbow doesn’t always feel 100 percent. It’ s a challenge, filled with ups and downs.
“Mentally, you find out a lot about yourself, that first year back when you learn how to fight through the rough spots, figuring out ways to get outs,’’ Wainwright said. “It’s a huge thing for pitchers. That first year you come back, there are days you feel terrible, but you have to go out there and get outs, guys who do that. They are stronger for it.
“The guys that shut it down and say they can only pitch when they are perfect, those are the guys who are always on the DL.’’
As for the Mets’ entire group of young starters Harvey, deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Wheeler — Wainwright smiled and said: “They have some staff. I wish I threw 100.’’
Amazingly, all of those starters — except Syndergaard — have had Tommy John surgery. Survive and move on.
DeGrom, 27, is one of the few pitchers who never has had any issues following Tommy John surgery. It was smooth sailing post-op.
“I felt good right from the start, my situation was different because I was trying to make it in the organization,’’ deGrom said.
DeGrom was not an established major league pitcher when he had his surgery. He was a converted college shortstop trying to make it in the minors as a pitcher. So there was much more of a sense of urgency on the mound for him to produce and he did.
After missing 2011, he pitched 111 ¹/₃ innings in 2012 and 147 ²/₃ innings in 2013 as he moved up the ladder before earning NL Rookie of the Year honors in 2014.
The Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg, 27, is another pitcher who has gone through Tommy John surgery and said once you get past that first year, “It gets to the point where you don’t even think about it anymore. It delayed me for a year. You just have to tweak your training. That’s what I did.’’
Wainwright missed all of 2011. In 2012 Wainwright pitched 213 ²/₃ innings, including postseason. In 2013 he pitched an amazing 276 ²/₃ innings, counting postseason.
Harvey missed all of 2014. In 2015 he pitched 216 innings, including postseason.
The road to success this season should be paved with gold.