NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- You can't touch Matt Harvey on the mound.

And apparently you shouldn't mess with him off it.

Former Mets reliever Jon Rauch, at an imposing 6-foot-11, targeted Harvey for some old fashioned rookie hazing last season, which ended with the fiery starter threatening "to whip his a--," according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.

Passan's report goes like this: Harvey was mid-nap in the Mets' clubhouse when Rauch poured a bucket of ice water on him. Harvey, drenched along with his cell phone, "bounded up and challenged Rauch to a fight. Right there. Right then."

The huge, tattooed reliever backed down, according to Passan: "(Harvey) would not be a punch line in Rauch's re-telling. He would not let some mediocre clown play him."

Rauch went 3-7 with a 3.59 ERA  in his lone season with the Mets.

"I'm not gonna discuss it," Harvey told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday.

Harvey is 6-1 for the Mets this season with a 2.16 ERA and 115 strikeouts.

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