Omar Minaya had to see for himself. After his scouts raved about the big right-handed junior at the University of North Carolina, he wanted to see him in person.
Then the Mets GM, Minaya had a front-row seat that spring 2010 day when Matt Harvey got shelled.
“I think they scored six runs on him in the first two innings,” Minaya said with a laugh. “They hit him hard.
“But he never dropped his head. Other guys would have been looking in the dugout for help,” Minaya remembered. “He didn’t want any. He kept attacking, he was a bulldog out there.