The right-hander threw 27 pitches today, but the club, namely Terry Collins, wants him to continue to take it slow.
You can't fault the Mets' Matt Harvey for being persistent and dedicated during his Tommy John surgery rehab. He still feels that he will pitch again in 2014, but even with that prospect looking all but gone, he continues to work hard down in Port St. Lucie.
Today, that included a 27-pitch bullpen session. But Terry Collins hopes to eliminate any thought in Harvey's mind of a comeback this year.
"Matt gets it and understands it, but the issue with Matt is that everything he does is max effort...He's talked about how great he feels, and how well he's throwing. He's got to back off a bit."
Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen reportedly got on the phone with Harvey to have a pre-game chat before the Mets took on the Nationals this evening. With Jeremy Hefner's setback serving as a cautionary tale, they likely stressed to Harvey that it would be better for him to wait to come back in 2015 fully healthy—or as close to healthy as possible—than to come back too early despite feeling "great" and potentially doing further damage to his elbow. With the right-hander making up a group of emerging young arms, the Mets are hoping to protect the career of their young star as much as they can.