It’s not the Dark Knight anyone will remember. The big fastball is gone. Such is the overwhelming hype.
But Matt Harvey will be promoted to Citi Field rubber for the first time since his appointment in May 2018 and later traded to the Reds on Wednesday afternoon.
He will do this as a slightly rejuvenated pitcher , almost three years to the day he was sent away after starting to reinvent himself with the Orioles. He’s not the same guy who set off radar weapons or provoked untimely Tom Seaver comparisons. He has become a valued contributor to Baltimore’s pitching staff, now a veteran described as a helpful mentor for young players who are reinventing themselves without the superior stuff.
« I think he appreciates the opportunity and does uses them, « said manager Brandon Hyde on Tuesday before the start of a two-game series with the Mets. « I’ve talked to him, he loves being here and he’s having a lot of fun. »
Harvey, who was not exposed to the media on Tuesday, has his biggest hit with the Orioles since leaving the Mets achieved. In seven starts with Baltimore, he has an ERA of 3.60, which includes 25½ innings, enabled three home runs and scored 21 hits. He’s got as many wins (three) as his last two seasons combined and has completed at least five innings, four of his outings.
« It’s great for Matt. He’s had some really tough times, » said the former Mets- Manager Terry Collins told The Post. « He was up on the mountain, maybe the best at the game, [and] injuries shortened his career, and I’m just glad he struggled.
» Hopefully he saw [former teammate] at Bartolo [Colon] and said, ‘Hey, look, I don’t have to throw 94 to be successful, I just need to be much better at my stuff. ‘… I think it’s really so cool that he’s going back and reviving his career a little bit. It feels good to me. «
The reception for 32-year-old Harvey should be positive. He helped the Mets reach the 2015 World Series the year after his surgery on Tommy John and was a local prospect who was one of the best for a short time Pitcher in the entire sport was before injuries occurred.
Harvey took Queens by storm when called up in 2012. On his debut, he scored eleven goals and started the 2013 All-Star Game. He was in the middle of a transcendent Year and scored an ERA of 2.27 with 191 strokes in 178 ½ innings when diagnosed with a partial rupture of the UCL ligament in his right elbow and flew past his innings limit in 2015 after Concern that the team might limit its usage and went 2-0 in the postseason with a 3.04 ERA.
« I remember talking to Carlos Beltran at the All-Star game , who was with the Cardinals at the time, and Carlos s said he had the best things he was ever faced with, « said Collins. “That’s a big statement.” Perhaps the most memorable – and most frustrating – moment for Harvey was the last game of the 2015 World Series, when he shutout in the ninth inning and convinced Collins to let him. After the first two hits hit the base, Harvey came out and the royals rallied to draw level.
He was never the same. He underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery after going 4 to 10 in 17 starts in 2016 with 4.50 ERA. Those numbers only worsened over the next two years before the parties went their separate ways. The numbers didn’t necessarily improve when his uniform changed. Sacked by the Angels in July 2018, he appeared in just seven games with the Royals last year before signing his final minor league contract with the Orioles in February.
The circle will come full on Wednesday. Harvey will be back at Citi Field, facing the team he started with – the team he reached the height of his career with. He was here with the Reds in 2018, but didn’t serve.
« I’ll be excited, » said Collins. “I know one thing: Matt is going to be pretty nervous. He was certainly a very, very popular player there for a long time.
« I’m sure there are hundreds of Mets fans out there who are still Matt Harvey fans and I think it’s going to be very fun to see her. «
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