PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- As it turns out, Matt Harvey may still be battling health issues.

Although this one appears to be minor, Mets manager Terry Collins casually dropped in a piece of information about Harvey that isn't so casual when you consider his injury history of two surgeries in four years. The latest one as recent as July.

Harvey made his first Grapefruit League start on Sunday with a sore neck, giving up four earned runs in 1 2/3 innings in a 14-10 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He never mentioned his neck, saying throughout his postgame press conference at First Data Field that his body felt good.

This, despite the fact that his July surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome involved the nerves in his neck.

Collins, however, said Harvey had the option to postpone his spring 2017 spring training debut, but he wasn't waiting any longer.

"He had a little stiff neck yesterday and we weren't sure he was going to pitch," Collins said. "I just told him, 'Don't be a hero, go about your business.' But he said he was fine and watched to pitch."

It's been a long road for Harvey since he was afflicted with the nerve disorder last year. And the rehab road has been slow going, at least when compared to the last time Harvey was on it. Collins mentioned the fact that he once very proudly attempted to come back from Tommy John surgery quicker than any pitcher in history.

But Harvey, who is currently slated to be the Mets' No. 3 starter in the rotation, now knows that quicker isn't always better.

"Coming back from Tommy John was a different story, I was pretty pumped up fort that one," Harvey said. "The biggest thing for me now is going out there more and more and just getting used to facing other teams. The velo will come."

The velocity was far from the high-90s mark that he's set in seasons past. He has time to get the velocity up and his fastball command -- which he lost in the second inning on Sunday -- is more important than velocity no matter the time of year.

"I think he wants to be more simple and get his mechanics going a little, getting his arm angle back there," catcher Rene Rivera said. "Get his delivery nice and smooth, and he did it. He was throwing good fastballs, he had good movement and his sinker was working nice. He had real, real good changeups."

The Dark Knight may still rise yet again, but this time it won't be a fast ascent.

Abbey Mastracco may be reached at amastracco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @abbeymastracco. Find NJ.com on Facebook.