Matt Harvey offered an impassioned mea culpa to his Mets teammates on Tuesday, but the verbiage only took him so far.
“Actions speak louder than words,” one Mets teammate said after Harvey apologized for skipping Saturday’s game, leading to the right-hander receiving a three-game suspension from the club. “We’ve all been out late, but you’ve got to show up. You’ve got to go to work.”
For Harvey, with his suspension complete, that work began with a throwing session in preparation for his scheduled start in Milwaukee on Friday. But on a personal level, Harvey will receive counseling, according to a source, related to his hard-charging lifestyle off the field.
During a short press conference, Harvey referred to changes that were needed.
“Obviously, I’m extremely embarrassed by my actions,” Harvey told reporters at Citi Field. “I apologize to my teammates, to the Mets organization, to [Mets owners] the Wilpons, all the way down to the Mets fans for doing what I did.
“Yes, I was out Friday night past curfew. I did play golf Saturday morning,” Harvey said, confirming much of a previous New York Post report.
“I put myself in a bad place to be ready for showing up for a ball game that is my responsibility. I take full blame for that . . . and I’m doing everything in my power so that never happens again.”
Asked specifically by The Post as he departed the field following batting practice if that included counseling, Harvey responded: “No. Just being here, being with the guys.”
But a source indicated Harvey will receive in-house counseling as he attempts to win back the trust of teammates.
Terry Collins stopped just short of saying Harvey would receive professional counseling.
“Matt has got a pretty good support group,” Collins said. “There’s a lot of people out there that are willing to help and I think he’s going to use them. I don’t think he has to do it by himself anymore. I think he knows he’s got people in his corner, no matter what their title is that are going to help him try to go down he right path and do the right things.”
The manager became choked up recounting a text message that was sent by Bartolo Colon to a member of the kitchen staff — to be shared with Harvey — offering support for his former teammate.
Harvey admitted to staying out late Friday night into Saturday morning and then participating in a round of golf before returning to his Greenwich Village apartment. According to sources, Harvey was noticed missing during pregame drills and later sent pitching coach Dan Warthen a text saying he had a migraine headache and wouldn’t be coming to Citi Field. After the game, team brass convened, and Harvey was handed a three-game suspension when he showed up Sunday expecting to pitch against the Marlins.
“Yes, I was out on Friday night, past curfew,” Harvey said. “I did play golf Saturday morning and I put myself in a bad place to be ready for showing up for a ballgame, that is my responsibility. I take full blame for that.
“I apologized to my teammates, I’ve apologized to the coaches. I’m doing everything in my power so that it never happens again. I’m extremely embarrassed for my actions. I’m looking forward to getting things back on track and doing everything I can to help this team win and help this organization moving forward. They all have my word on that.”
Harvey had never previously skipped a game, according to sources, but was late on a few occasions and fined $500 at least once. But Harvey missed a team workout prior to the start of the NL Division Series in 2015, claiming he got stuck in traffic.
Upon arriving to Citi Field on Tuesday, the pitcher sat with Collins, team COO Jeff Wilpon, general manager Sandy Alderson and assistant general manager John Ricco and outlined Saturday’s events that led to him missing the game.
“I told him he needs to make baseball No. 1,” Collins said. “When he did that, he was on top of the world — this guy was the best pitcher in the game and when he makes that a priority again, he will be back.
“Be it off-the-field stuff, you have to be able to put the blinders on and correct yourself down that path and say, ‘I’m not going to let that stuff get in the way right now.’ ”
Jose Reyes, who expressed disappointment in Harvey on Sunday, said he is ready to move on and help his teammate get back on track.
“We are teammates. We’re here together. We want all the best for him,” Reyes said. “We’re behind him 100 percent, but when you do that [not show up for work], it’s not good. He’s a big part of this ball club and we need him. We’ve got his back. Hopefully we can put that in the past and move forward. He understands 100 percent.”