Happy Harvey Day!

What else needs to be said, Mets fans? HAPPY HARVEY DAY!!! It's the day you've been waiting for.

Matt Harvey is back on the mound for the first time since late 2013 this afternoon when the Mets take on the Nationals at 1:05 in Washington.

It will be interesting to see how Harvey pitches in his first game action since coming off Tommy John Surgery. Will he trust his slider? Will he ramp the fastball velocity up? All those indications are yes based on what we saw in Spring Training. He hit 99 MPH in his first start of the Spring.

I expect Harvey to come out and throw well. The key will be if he can keep his emotions in check and get ahead in counts. He needs to dominate the strike zone the way he did in 2013. He had 191 strikeouts and just 31 walks in 178.1 innings that season. That will keep his pitch count down, and that will be important, since the Mets will be monitoring everything about Harvey, especially early in the cold weather.

Harvey was a 2013 all-star. He finished 9-5 with a 2.27 ERA before the injury in a late-season start.