That was not bad for a man with one less rib than the rest of us.

Mets pitcher Matt Harvey took to the mound at Citi Field on Thursday night for the first time since he shut down his season last July and had surgery. He remains shorn for now of his top-shelf fastball, that 98-mile-per-hour heater, and that added to the fascination. We live in a strikeout age, in which the 24th man on every roster throws 96 m.p.h. As 44-year-old Big Sexy (a.k.a. former Met and now Atlanta Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon) reminded us earlier this week, however, an 88 m.p.h. fastball works fine in the tactile grip of an artist.

Perhaps in the lubricating heat of summer, Harvey will touch 98 m.p.h. and stalk about the mound again. For now, we watched a 28-year-old harvest all of his pitches. It turned out that the non-macho incarnation of Harvey was a very effective pitcher.

His slider tailed, his changeup fell and his curveball bit like a cat. When he walked off the mound to a standing ovation in the seventh inning, he had given up just three hits and two runs to the Atlanta Braves.

“I remember getting booed off the field last year, so kind of flipping that switch was exciting,” he said afterward, standing in front of his locker. “It’s fun. You look up in the sixth, seventh inning and you have a lead and you’re still out there.”