April 4, 2007
By NICK CARBONI
The Hartford Courant
GROTON -- Nothing fazes Matt Harvey as he goes through his precise, fluid delivery on the baseball field at Fitch High School.
Not the rapid clicks from the photographer's camera behind the catcher. Not the scout with the dark sunglasses lurking next to the equipment shed. Not even his association with agent Scott Boras and the potential of earning millions of dollars just weeks after his high school graduation.
Baseball America's Prospects Plus ranked Harvey the No. 1 high school player in the country. Harvey, 18, has signed a letter of intent to play at the University of North Carolina next year, but he is expected to be selected high in Major League Baseball's June draft and sign a professional contract.
Current projections have him going in the first half of round one, which would mean a signing bonus in the millions. He would become only the eighth player with state ties to go in the first round since the draft began in 1965.
Still, the attention doesn't seem to intimidate Harvey.
"I like having pressure on the baseball field,'' said Harvey, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound righthander from Mystic.
Halfway through this bullpen session on a cold, cloudy afternoon in late March, Harvey's coach comes over to check on him. The man with the silver hair and mustache in the red Fitch baseball jacket is in his 29th season as coach of the Falcons. He is also Matt Harvey's father, Ed Harvey.
Ed, whose teams have won three state titles, has a team to run. His practices flow along like clockwork. Every player rotates between several stations. Each station exists for a reason.
No one understands this better than Matt, who helped Ed win a state championship in 2005. Matt's work ethic matches his father's routines. His dedication to his eventual goal of pitching in the major leagues was part of what helped him add 35 pounds of muscle since his sophomore season. Before warming up, Matt spends a few minutes on his back doing leg stretches. He then stands up and uses a pitcher's band to strengthen his arm. Everything is done with exactness and care.
Ed says that Matt is hands-down the most talented and hardest-working player he has coached in 34 years at Fitch as an assistant and head coach. That includes Paul Menhart, a major league pitcher for three seasons, and countless collegians and minor leaguers.
Ed, also Matt's physical education teacher at Fitch, enjoys the uniqueness of his situation.
"When you think about it, not many guys can teach their sons, live with their sons and have them play baseball for you,'' he said with a smile. "And then for him to be one of the best you've ever had is pretty cool.''
Matt speaks with a matter-of-fact tone, much like his father. He articulates softly and deliberately, collecting his thoughts before talking. And the son has a tremendous respect for his father's baseball knowledge. The elder Harvey was a standout for both the UConn football and baseball teams, including its College World Series team in 1972.
"I like coming up here and doing what he knows he wants to be done,'' Matt said.
Growing up, Matt loved to hang around Ed's teams. Still, he wasn't just a bat boy.
At 10, he was jumping into Ed's batting practice rotations at third base. One day, he fielded a grounder and threw the runner out by half a baseline. There was hooting and hollering all around. Often, Matt would have Ed throw him pitches after practice and keep a catcher around in gear for some late-afternoon tosses from the mound.
Matt stood out at every level, but Ed maintained his distance. Not wanting to meddle, he coached Matt at home, letting his Little League and Babe Ruth coaches do the rest. And that 12-to-6 curveball that has garnered so much attention lately? Matt had to wait patiently until he was 13 before his father showed him how to throw the bender that Ed says,
"When he's on, I haven't seen anyone hit it.''
A true student of the game, Matt would watch pitchers on television, paying close attention to the science of getting batters out.
These days, scouts are drooling over his breaking ball and fastball, which has been clocked in the mid-90s mph since he was barely 16. Last season he was 5-0 with 80 strikeouts and a 0.81 ERA.
More important, scouts love his graceful delivery, performed with machine-like consistency.
"Easy gas,'' Ed calls it. Despite his pro potential, North Carolina didn't hesitate to offer Matt a scholarship.
"We didn't take the chance [of signing top prospects] in my first few years here,'' said coach Mike Fox, in his ninth year at North Carolina. "He's the total package. [Pitchers like Matt] don't come along very often.''
David Piela, a 1984 Fitch graduate and bullpen catcher for the Double-A Norwich Navigators, began catching Matt this winter and acknowledged his potential.
"I love the way he approaches his work,'' Piela said. "I think you notice it in the way he carries himself. He doesn't carry himself like a high school pitcher.''
In most cases, first-round draft picks out of high school end up signing pro contracts rather than going to college. Both Matt and Ed say that if the situation is right, Matt will do the same.
"A lot of it is money and that's always a factor,'' Matt said. "If the opportunity comes, I'd love to start now and have the chance to be 21 years old and pitching in a big-league ballpark.''
Now, the little kid who used to get dropped off at his father's practices after school gets advice from Boras, one of the most successful agents in sports. Matt met with Boras last summer in California for 4 1/2 hours and discussed a potential professional relationship if he does sign a contract in June.
The association is much like Boras' pre-draft affiliation with past top prospects, such as current Angels pitcher Jered Weaver, in 2004. As long as Boras does not handle Matt's expenses during visits, the connection does not violate his NCAA eligibility.
Once a player is drafted, teams have a year to sign him, unless the player enters, or returns, to a four-year college full time.
The connection with Boras, whose client list includes Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Barry Zito and Johnny Damon, has its obvious implications. Boras has a reputation as a tough negotiator and has been known to advise prospects to use a potential college career as leverage to generate a more lucrative contract. It has led some teams to stay away from drafting Boras-affiliated players.
Weaver is a more comparable prospect to Matt. In 2005, Boras helped Weaver, then at Long Beach State, to get a $4 million signing bonus after his first-round selection by the Angels nearly a year earlier as the 12th pick in 2004. Matt said that he would sign with Boras if he goes pro this summer.
But for now, Matt's goals are simple -- win Ed his fourth state championship. After that? Make
an impact in the major leagues.
"I want to get there,'' he said. ``And I want to stay for a long time.''
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