Matt Harvey Gets Nasty in Major League Debut, Strikes Out 11 in Mets Win

by Mike Cole on Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 8:49AM

Starling Marte wasn't the only player to have a highly successful major league debut Thursday night.

While Marte made history by homering on the first pitch he saw of his big league career, it was Mets prospect Matt Harvey who may have had the best debut on Thursday.

Harvey was utterly filthy in his first major league start against the Diamondbacks in Phoenix. He went 5 1/3 scoreless innings while striking out 11 on the way to picking up his first career win. The 11 punchouts are a Mets club record for a debut.

The Connecticut native features an explosive fastball as well as pretty solid secondary stuff, with all of it working on Thursday night. However, it all came back to command of a fastball that touched the upper 90s.

"Electric stuff for sure," Mets manager Terry Collins said, according to the team's website. "I haven't seen 98 out of a starting pitcher in quite some time. He's lived up to exactly what everybody's talked about."

And oh yeah, Harvey also went 2-for-2 with a single and a double at the plate to help his cause.