Matt Harvey, RHP New York Mets
3/27/1989
Height: 6’4″ Weight: 225
Matt Harvey was drafted by the Mets in the 1st round of the draft in 2007, selected #7 overall and signed for $2.525mm at the deadline.
Harvey had actually been one of the top prepster pitchers in the 2007 draft but bypassed playing for the Angels in order to attend UNC. So the Mets got a 2nd chance at him and he fits the mold the Mets look for. Big and with a big fastball.
Despite never having thrown a single professional pitch he came into the 2011 season as the #31 ranked prospect on our Preseason Top 100. We’ve been watching Harvey since he was a high school senior, so the ranking was a stretch in my mind. Here’s what we had to say:
Matt Harvey, RHP Mets (Photo courtesy of Binghamton Mets)
Matt Harvey SP NYM – Harvey was possibly the most talented college arm to come out of the 2010 draft. He’s a big kid with a workhorse frame. His low 90s FB is matched with a slider and CB but the Mets are developing the CB. His CU is a work in progress but already showed some flashes. His physical presence is impressive and he looks like he knows he’s good when he’s on the mound. Potentially the Ace the Mets have been longing for.
He started his career in the FSL, where he spent the first 3 months of the season dominating High-A hitters to the tune of a 2.37 ERA with 92 K’s in just 76 innings. Supported by a 2.66 FIP it was clearly a real performance. His 51% groundball rate matched with a near 30% strikeout rate are elite numbers and the 7.8% walk rate is more than passable.
He was bumped to Double-A Binghamton midseason and while he was tested, the test can still be called a success in his career path.
Harvey pitched another 59.2 innings, again striking out more that a batter per inning while keeping his groundball rate at 51%. While his ERA jumped to 4.53, his FIP of 3.23 says that he wasn’t far off from his FSL performance. The lone major setback was his walk rate taking a little bump to 8.9%. A small set back.
So he was able to put up the performance we expected and then some. Let’s take a look at his arsenal and mechanics to see how he did it.
The Stuff
Harvey works a four pitch mix which has always been highlighted by his low to mid 90s fastball. He’s a big kid with a workhorse frame and uses his fastball well. It’s not a plus pitch but it’s above average and he’s learned to command the pitch well in the bottom of the zone.
His secondary arsenal is made up of a curveball, which he’s made a primary weapon, a solid slider and a changeup. The curveball comes out of the same arm slot and has a hard break. It’s his out-pitch and the one that will determine if he’s an ace or just a workhorse.
Slider has always been a solid average pitch for Harvey and despite talks of scrapping the pitch, it remains a solid weapon for him that makes his fastball that much better.
The changeup took some big strides as the season in the FSL wore on and by the time he left for Double-A it was an average pitch. In time it could be more.
The Mechanics
At 6-4 and 225 lbs, Harvey has some good downhill plane to work with. Let’s take a look at some spring training video from mdeeeez:
You can see from the video that at the beginning of the season he was very upright in his delivery. There isn’t a lot of effort to the mechanics and he’s still able to push his fastball into the mid 90s.
There was a simple tweak that was made during spring training and in this second video, this one from Bullpen Banter, you can see his leg extension is more exaggerated:
The change is what allowed him to make a strength out of what has been the biggest enemy. His command. Through college, his upright delivery has made command of his pitches difficult. His pure ability allowed to still outshine most of the competition anyway. And now, his command is becoming one of his biggest strengths.
As I mentioned earlier, Harvey is able to generate his velocity without max effort. He doesn’t have the cleanest arm action, but it’s not a flaw that should limit him in the health department.
Our Instinct
Matt Harvey has a plus curveball with a borderline plus fastball. The slider is average. His changeup should be an average or better pitch as well, so he has a four pitch mix that makes me confident to call him a future big league starter. His command has come along as well, so while he was a #2-#3 starter going into the season, the command has put him in the elite level of pitching prospects and he has a chance to be a frontline starter.
His frame says that there is a workhorse 200 inning eater here as well. The only thing that can hold him back from reaching a successful #2 starter or better will be his mechanics. The changes that have been made are a step in the right direction and he’ll need to hold that upgrade going forward while maturing as a starter.
We should see Harvey some time in 2012. He could start the season in Triple-A and be with the Mets by the All Star break.
Check back soon as we profile many more Top MLB Prospects and also get our baseball geek on and take a look at some of the later draft picks from the 2011 draft that we think could be big names on the prospect radars in the near future. While you’re here, take a look at our on going series Touch’em All | Appalachian League and be a step ahead of the game. Thanks for checking Baseball Instinct. We’re working hard to bring you the best of the minor leagues and make the site the best experience it can be. So don’t hesitate to tell us what you would like to read about. Email us now at mailbag@baseballinstinct.com.
