TeamTivity

Don't Underestimate Me!!!

 

Two days ago Mets pitcher Matt Harvey and Pirates Starling Marte got the call they had been waiting for their entire lives. On the other end of the phone was their respected organizations saying that they had been called up to the big show.

Now usually when a minor league player is called up the media and fans expect early struggles from their prized prospects...well, you may want to think again because last night both of these kids proved that the major leagues is where they belong.

From the moment Matt Harvey toed the rubber last night, he was in total control. Half-way through the game they were comparing his debut to the likes of Dwight Gooden and Tom Seaver. It turns out that he was better than both of them. Fans expected Harvey to struggle with a hot Diamonbacks team facing a lowly Mets team going through a terrible losing streak. Harvey completely wowed every Met fans (as well as myself). Common logic would make you believe the kid isn't that great, the mets are tanking and have a glaring need a pitcher, and who gets a promotion after giving up six runs in their last start? And then Harvey, the former first-round Draft pick, went out there and struck out 11 batters, a franchise record for a Major League debut, blanked the D-backs over 5 1/3
innings Thursday and lead the Mets to a much needed 3-1 victory at Chase Field.

The only player who was as equally impressive as Harvey was Pirates center fielder Starling Marte. The ever aggressive Marte told his teammates before the game in the dugout "if he throws a fastball in the middle, I'm going to take a hack at it." Well on the first pitch Marte was a man of his word and swung for the fences. The ball jumped off his bat and landed over the center field wall. It's always impressive for your first hit to be a home run, but to have it occur on the first pitch of your career is almost unheard of. Marte became the 13th player since 2000 to hit the first big league pitch he saw out of the park.

Both of these guys showed last night that although you are a rookie, you are there to produce and be an integral part of the team. I think its safe to say that these guys set the bar pretty high.
  
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Don't underestimate a newcomer, 
Aaron Granoff