http://www.philly.com/philly/sports...fter_college__maybe_Phils_prospects_will.html
The only reason that the Mets had the opportunity to select Harvey with the seventh overall pick in the 2010 draft was that life-changing choice he'd made three years earlier. The Los Angeles Angels had picked him in the third round of the 2007 draft out of Fitch High School in Connecticut. Instead of signing with the Angels, Harvey decided to go to the University of North Carolina. He spent three years at Chapel Hill, developing as much as a man as he did as a pitcher, providing the perfect template for what the Phillies want to accomplish as they restock their farm system's pitching supply.
"I wasn't ready when I was 18, 19 years old," Harvey said after the Mets' 5-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. "I needed those three years to mature and grow up, get a routine. You had to go to class. You had to have a schedule. And for me, that was important. College was the best decision I could make. It put me in a better position for playing in New York and in the big leagues."
"Honestly, I think that the buzz here eclipses that of Roy, Cliff, Cole, anything that I've seen," said Mets outfielder John Mayberry Jr., a member of that 2011 Phillies team. "It's like a rock star's going out there."
The latest tour stop is at Citizens Bank Park, and Matt Harvey promises to put the Phillies through hell Friday. Beyond that one night, though, they're betting that his path to greatness might give them some hope that help really is on the way.
The only reason that the Mets had the opportunity to select Harvey with the seventh overall pick in the 2010 draft was that life-changing choice he'd made three years earlier. The Los Angeles Angels had picked him in the third round of the 2007 draft out of Fitch High School in Connecticut. Instead of signing with the Angels, Harvey decided to go to the University of North Carolina. He spent three years at Chapel Hill, developing as much as a man as he did as a pitcher, providing the perfect template for what the Phillies want to accomplish as they restock their farm system's pitching supply.
"I wasn't ready when I was 18, 19 years old," Harvey said after the Mets' 5-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. "I needed those three years to mature and grow up, get a routine. You had to go to class. You had to have a schedule. And for me, that was important. College was the best decision I could make. It put me in a better position for playing in New York and in the big leagues."
"Honestly, I think that the buzz here eclipses that of Roy, Cliff, Cole, anything that I've seen," said Mets outfielder John Mayberry Jr., a member of that 2011 Phillies team. "It's like a rock star's going out there."
The latest tour stop is at Citizens Bank Park, and Matt Harvey promises to put the Phillies through hell Friday. Beyond that one night, though, they're betting that his path to greatness might give them some hope that help really is on the way.
