On-Base Perception

Stats are a better indicator of talent than the "eye test," but they have their flaws. Especially when it comes to pitching numbers.

Case in point: Matt Harvey has consistently pitched brilliantly, yet he takes a 7-2 record into the All-Star break. The seven wins ties him for 31st in MLB among qualified pitchers.

Wins have long been used to measure a starter, dating to when...

The debate about whether Matt Harvey should start the All-Star Game is moot. At least to Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, the pitcher most frequently mentioned as an alternative to Harvey.

“He should,” Kershaw told FOXSports.com. “There’s no reason, especially if it’s in New York, that he shouldn’t start. That’s what the fans will want. I’ve got no problem with that.”

By traditional measures,...

1,623 - RBIs for Chipper Jones, the career leader among third basemen who had his number retired Friday by the Braves at Turner Field. Former President Jimmy Carter was even in attendance. As perfect a night it was for Jones, hard to believe the Braves were nice enough to not schedule the Mets for that particular homestand.

$500M - Anticipated cost of Wrigley Field renovation, part of which...

Get ready to see Matt Harvey in a whole new way.

The Mets' fireballing phenom will pose nude in ESPN The Magazine's "The Body" issue, along with several other notable athletes, including Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton and 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Though Harvey's appearance in the magazine is certainly notable, he won't be the first member of the Mets to strike...

Tuesday was a great day for America's newest pastime: comparing Matt Harvey to Zack Wheeler.

The two crown jewels of the Mets' system have been linked and advertised as a devastating 1-2 punch ever since Wheeler was acquired for Carlos Beltran at the 2011 trade deadline. Harvey got to the big leagues first and has been superb. Tuesday was the first chance to see if Wheeler would be a worthy...

After the Mets' enthusiastic celebration of a walkoff win against the Cubs on Sunday, commentator Bob Costas quipped that the display was "another sign of the ongoing decline of Western Civilization."

Wednesday afternoon, Mets GM Sandy Alderson got his revenge. In tweet form:

.@MattHarvey33 & @Wheelerpro45 both won Tuesday. All of Western civilization was uplifted, including...

ATLANTA -- A few notes before the tag team of Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler take on the Braves during this Tuesday afternoon doubleheader. Weather permitting, of course:

-- The Mets placed utilityman Justin Turner on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left intercostal muscle. They also activated righthanded reliever Scott Atchison from the DL after he had been shelved with elbow inflammation....

UPDATE: The Mets and Braves finally got underway at 10:53 p.m. after a nearly four-hour rain delay Monday at Turner Field.

After announcing that the Mets-Braves game would get underway at 10:05 p.m. in Atlanta following a lenghty rain delay, the tarp remained on the field.

At 7:39 p.m., the Braves official Twitter handle tweeted that the grounds crew had just come out to work on the...

John Buck has seen all this Matt Harvey mania before, only then the phenom went by a different name: Zack Greinke.

It took Greinke, the No. 14 prospect in MLB before the 2004 season, a little longer to establish himself as one of the game’s best. He suffered from two conditions that Harvey doesn’t have to worry about:

1) A social anxiety disorder that nearly caused him to leave the game

2)...

This night couldn't have gone much better for the Mets.

They began the game by honoring the greatest closer to ever play the game and ended it by beating him. Their young phenom lived up to the hype and struck out 10 Yankees in eight innings, allowing just a single run.

And they avoided a potential rain out.

Listen to inside-the-game insights from the important actors in it: Matt...