Matt Harvey wants to pitch for New York Mets this season

Out for what would presumably be the entire 2014 season, New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey wasn’t expected to see a mound this year – at least not in game capacity.

But in recent years, recovery time after Tommy John surgery has improved and Harvey says he wants to pitch this season, possibly soon as August as he told Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci.

“Of course, I won’t do it unless I’m cleared to do it,” he said, “but I want to pitch before the year ends. I want to make five, six, seven starts this year. I asked [the training staff], ‘If I want to come back in August, when do I need to start throwing off a mound?’ They said June 10. So that’s what we have penciled in right now. That’s the plan.

“I feel great. I don’t feel any soreness now. The ball is coming out of my hand great.”

While that might be the plan, it’s not known if the Mets actually want to follow through with such.

Understandably the Mets want their young ace back on the mound, but they don’t want to risk any further injury by rushing him back, especially just for a handful of meaningless starts come season end.

Harvey would like to get back into the groove of things instead of starting out completely fresh come the 2015 season, but it remains to be seen if that’s the best plan of action moving forward.