PORT ST. LUCIE — Matt Harvey threw 43 pitches total to David Wright, Michael Cuddyer, Curtis Granderson and Daniel Murphy, none of whom swung — this was a "tracking" assignment — and trotted off the mound on this cloudy Friday morning.
And a crowd of dozens of diehard Mets fans, watching the action at Tradition Field, applauded.
Gotta give Harvey his props. The man creates a buzz by performing even the most routine tasks. This marked his first live batting-practice session since his October 2013 Tommy John surgery. In a few days, he might progress to his first such live BP in which guys actually take a few hacks, so imagine how electric the place will be then.
Which brings us our question of the day: Can Harvey be the Mets' A-Rod?
All right, that might be misinterpreted, so let me be more specific: Can Harvey, whose return is by far the biggest story of this Mets season, be the type of guy who attracts so much heat, takes so many bullets, that he allows his teammates to do their jobs in relative peace?
When I asked Terry Collins whether Harvey's presence provides cover to the other players, the Mets' manager responded, "Yes … it does. They know where the attention is at. They're not crazy."
Said Wright: "I would say that there are certain guys that enjoy the attention, like to kind of be the attention. And there are some guys that prefer to kind of stay in the background. And I'm not sure if there's a right or wrong, but Matt's definitely one that enjoys attention and welcomes the spotlight."
As the Mets' captain, Wright makes himself accessible regularly to the media, thereby protecting some of the other guys on the club. At this juncture, however, Wright's rebound from a left shoulder injury doesn't demand the same minute-by-minute scrutiny as Harvey's comeback. Perhaps it would, if not for Harvey.
And perhaps, if not for Harvey, what's left of Mets Universe would be paying more attention to Jacob deGrom's preparations for his sophomore season, and Lucas Duda's efforts to duplicate last year's breakout (and battle with his current left rib-cage injury), and Zack Wheeler's progress, and Noah Syndergaard's quest to make the majors, and Curtis Granderson's work with his old pal Kevin Long, and so on.
Harvey signs autographs for Mets fans.Photo: Anthony J. Causi
Some of these guys are more amenable to public scrutiny, and publicity in general, than others.
"A guy like Lucas Duda comes to mind, where he enjoys doing well, but … he's not a guy that goes out there and looks to be the center of attention," Wright said of the Mets' soft-spoken first baseman.
"Or," Wright continued, "you can get trouble if you have 50 guys in here that love the attention, because there's only so much."
That isn't the case here at Mets camp. Harvey undoubtedly ranks as the top spotlight-lover in this camp.
As discussed in a recent column, that proved problematic last year, when Harvey proved unusually noisy for a rehabilitating player, and it can help him this year now that he'll be competing again.
It can aid the rest of the team, no matter how Harvey pitches. He's going to be a huge story whether he booms or busts. Either way, other guys will find themselves with more room for error.
On Friday, for instance, Collins notified the media that deGrom, Jon Niese and prospect Steven Matz all looked good; we all were too busy focusing on Harvey. While Syndergaard followed Harvey and pitched to the same veteran quartet of hitters, the fans let down the laser-like focus they had on Harvey. Syndergaard drew no applause.
As for Harvey, when asked about the crowd's reaction to his workout, he said, "I was pretty locked in. I was pretty focused at the task at hand. Once I was done, I kind of realized how many people were around."
Maybe that's true. What's definitely true is that many people will be around Harvey all of the time this year. As long as he doesn't shoo them away, the right-hander can make life easier for the Mets even when he isn't pitching.
Just like A-Rod with the Yankees. Well, in that one way, at least.
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