Matt Harvey (Courtesy of UNC Media Relations)
The CBB continues our countdown to the 2009 College Baseball season with our Top 50 players to watch. We will be providing one player each day (Monday-Saturday) until we reach number 1.
We continue the list today with Sophomore righthanded pitcher Matt Harvey from North Carolina checking in at the 42nd spot in our countdown. He is a 6′4 200 pound righty from Mystic Connecticut and Fitch High School.
Matt Harvey made an immediate impact of the North Carolina rotation by stepping right into the third spot in the rotation. He was solid throughout the year completing the season with a 7-2 record and an ERA of 2.79. Harvey had some pitch count problems throughout the year which kept his inning totals low as he walked 47 batters in his 67.2 innings of work. He was able to offset the walks by striking out 80 batters and holding opponents to a .214 batting average.
Harvey looks to led UNC back to Omaha
Harvey ended up spending the summer pitching for the Chatham A’s in the Cape Cod League where he played under John Schiffner. He was able to appear in nine games accumulating a record of 1-1 with a 0.87 ERA. He only made one start on the year as he was used primarily out of the bullpen to pitch a total of 21.2 innings. His struggles with walks continued this summer with 11 walks but continue to rack up the strikeout numbers with 29. Hitters continued to struggle against him coming in at a .213 average.
I was told when Harvey was in high school that he was a surefire first round pick but ended up sliding to the third round where he was picked by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. (Check out his 2007 Draft profile here.) He had some tough negotiations with the Angels but they were never able to come to an agreement which led him to go to Chapel Hill and continue to develop. There is a very good chance that Harvey will be one of the top pitchers in 2010 in addition to the 2009 season. The CBB will be in attendance at one of Harvey’s starts in 2009 so stay tuned to the site for a full report.
You can check out the full top 50 by clicking here.
1 comment
He would be my #2 right now behind Strasberg.
But not draft eligible until next year.
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