Matt Harvey ‘ready’ for season after dominating Yankees

PORT ST. LUCIE — Matt Harvey is about ready for the games to start counting.

The Mets ace still has another two Grapefruit League starts to extend his pitch count, but otherwise appears ready for real baseball. So bring on the Nationals or Braves.

On Sunday he dominated the Yankees, firing 5 2/3 scoreless innings in the Mets' 6-0 victory at Tradition Field.

"I felt pretty good into the sixth inning and was commanding pretty much everything, so for that to be said I feel pretty good," said Harvey, who allowed two hits and struck out four.

Harvey is 1-0 with a 1.26 ERA in four starts this spring, after returning from Tommy John surgery rehab that cost him the 2014 season. His most impressive statistic might be his 12 strikeouts to one walk this spring. That includes going his last two starts without issuing a walk.

He threw only 60 pitches Sunday and would have been allowed to complete the sixth inning, except that manager Terry Collins wanted a look at lefty Sean Gilmartin with Didi Gregorius coming up.

"[Harvey] needs to build up his pitch count a little bit, but I would say stuff-wise he is ready for the regular season," Collins said. "We haven't seen any change in command since he walked back on the mound so we've just got to build up his endurance a little bit."

Zack Wheeler's loss to a torn ulnar collateral ligament — the right-hander is scheduled to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery on Tuesday — is the worst thing to have happened to the Mets this spring. The best is Harvey's return to resembling the pitcher who manhandled opponents in 2013.

Though pitchers returning from Tommy John surgery often struggle with command, Harvey said he isn't surprised by the number of strikes he is throwing.

"The command was there last year," Harvey said, referring to his throwing program. "Really focusing on [command] from Day 1 when I picked up a ball, it was still kind of in my mind [this year]. I didn't think I was going to walk only one person, but I'm obviously happy about that."

Harvey's teammates aren't complaining.

"He gives us a pretty good chance to win," David Wright said. "It was the first day for position players to play seven innings, so it's nice to play seven innings when [Harvey] has thrown 40-something pitches going into the sixth — that is always good to get in and out of the dugout quickly like that."

Collins has ruled out Harvey as a candidate to pitch the season opener on April 6 at Washington or the home opener a week later. But any day Harvey pitches will likely have a big-game feel for the Mets.

"He brings energy to the team and that's why it's good to have him back in the rotation," Collins said. "I still believe the other guys in the rotation are going to feed off that same stuff, that same energy that he provides.

"Even though we lost Zack, you have got to still like our pitching and we've just got to make sure we've got the right fixes in the bullpen."

Harvey kept his fastball in the 94 mph range for most of Sunday's game — proof he doesn't have to flirt with triple digits on the radar gun to be successful.

"I think we know that I can run it up if I need to," Harvey said. "But as far as the workload today and how things were going, I didn't really feel like I needed to do that. There is always a time for that, but as far as today goes I felt like I was moving the ball pretty well and having good command."

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