As most everyone knows by now, Matt Harvey‘s days with the Mets have come to an unceremonious end.
Given his 7.00 ERA, his antics, and his attitude, this really should come as little surprise. But one can’t help but feel a bit blindsided by the sudden, steep fall from grace the man once known as “The Dark Knight” experienced over the last three seasons. It only took 30 months for Harvey to go from being the face of the Mets’ “Best Rotation Ever” to earning a DFA. Even just a few weeks ago, it looked like there might be hope for the struggling pitcher.
Harvey’s behavior is perhaps rightfully earning a lot of play in the press after his DFA — especially given his refusal to go to the minor leagues. But at the end of the day, it’s been clear that two major surgeries — especially his 2016 shoulder surgery — took their toll on the pitcher who once showed so much promise. Much like Paul Wilson and Bill Pulsipher of yesteryear, Harvey was betrayed by his body.
And Mets fans also shouldn’t forget the hope Harvey bought to Flushing in the otherwise hopeless seasons of 2012 and 2013, nor should they forget that their 2015 NL pennant could not have come without Harvey at his best. There’s so much pessimism around the Mets right now — and given the way things have gone, there will probably be a lot more in the coming months. So to take a quick break from that and look back at the seven best moments of Matt Harvey’s Mets career.
7. The Atlanta Doubleheader
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When Zack Wheeler was called up to accompany Matt Harvey in starting ends of a day-night doubleheader against the Braves, it was supposed to be the start of a new era of Mets baseball. Wheeler was the No. 6 overall prospect after the 2012 season, per MLB Pipeline, and it looked as though he was destined to serve with Matt Harvey as co-aces of the Mets’ rotation for years to come.
This obviously would never happen. But this wasn’t apparent on June 18, 2013.
Harvey started the first the game of the doubleheader that day, and was his usual dominant self. He allowed just three runs on three hits in seven innings pitched, while striking out a career-high 13 batters. The Mets won that game 6-1, which is the same score by which they won the following game. Wheeler pitched six scoreless innings in the nightcap, striking out seven Braves along the way.
6. The SI Cover
Sports Illustrated isn’t the hallowed authority it was during its halcyon days, but it still means something special when America’s premier sports magazine decides to puts you on the cover. And Matt Harvey got the SI cover treatment on its May 20, 2013 issue, with a headline that read “The Dark Knight of Gotham.”
And just like that, “The Dark Knight” was born. Harvey put himself into some elite Mets company: The only Mets pitchers to be featured solo on an SI cover are Johan Santana, Dwight Gooden (twice), Ron Darling, Tom Seaver, and Jerry Koosman. And Harvey hadn’t even pitched a full season up to that point.
5. Flirting With a Perfect Game
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What was arguably the most dominant start of Matt Harvey’s MLB career (or at least, regular-season MLB career) came on May 7, 2013 against the White Sox. He took a perfect game into the seventh inning that night, before allowing a two-out infield single to Alex Rios. The Rios single would prove to be the only baserunner Harvey would allow that night; he would go on to complete nine scoreless innings while striking out 12 White Sox to lower his regular-season ERA to 1.28.
4. Starting the All-Star Game
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It seems ridiculous now given his 7.00 ERA, but there was once a time where Matt Harvey legitimately belonged in the same breath as Clayton Kershaw. And although Kershaw was in the midst of his second Cy Young winning season, it was Harvey that was selected to start the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field. And he didn’t disappoint, either: Harvey allowed just one hit over two scoreless innings, striking out three American Leaguers along the way.
That All-Star Game start was Matt Harvey’s national coming-out party. It was accompanied by an appearance on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” and that infamous Men’s Journal profile, in which he expressed aspirations for a $200 million contract and Derek Jeter‘s dating life. And thus, a tabloid star was born.
3. “The Debut”
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Matt Harvey was considered a good-but-not-great MLB prospect at the time of his debut against the Diamondbacks on July 26, 2012. He was MLB.com’s 14th-best pitching prospect at the start of the season, and most of the buzz around him seemed to suggest that his ceiling was as a No. 3 starter. But it only took one big-league start to turn that No. 3 starter buzz into future All-Star hype.
Harvey struck out 11 batters in his MLB debut, which broke Tom Seaver’s 45-year-old record for a Mets pitcher in his first game. He allowed just three hits in 5.1 scoreless innings, and earned a win as the Mets took a 3-1 victory. Better yet, Harvey went 2-for-2 at the plate, and became the first pitcher since 1900 to strike out ten or more batters while recording multiple hits in his MLB debut.
2. “Harvey’s Better”
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On April 19, 2013, the Mets sent Matt Harvey to the Citi Field mound against the Nationals, who sent 2009 No. 1 overall pick Stephen Strasburg. Harvey was at the absolute top of his game that night, as he struck out seven Nats over seven innings of one-run ball. Strasburg, on the other hand, was not: He allowed four runs over six innings. It was during that sixth inning that Mets fans began taunting Strasburg with the now-infamous “Harvey’s Better” chants, proclaiming the superiority of their ace over the already-anointed Next Best Thing.
There are few moments that underscore Harvey’s tragic-hero status quite like the “Harvey’s Better” chants because, we know now, Harvey was not better. Strasburg is still one of MLB’s best pitchers, while Harvey’s status as an MLB pitcher is far from a lock. 20 years from now, Mets fans will look back and laugh at the idea that Matt Harvey — who had 34 wins as a Met — was once considered better than Stephen Strasburg.
But on that night, it wasn’t a joke. Harvey actually was better. It just didn’t last long enough.
1. Game 5
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The Mets sent Matt Harvey to the mound for Game 5 of the 2015 World Series facing elimination. They would need a lights-out performance from Harvey if they were to keep their dim championship hopes alive.
And that night, Harvey gave the Mets — perhaps literally — everything he had left.
“The Dark Knight” was dominant all night; he allowed just four hits through eight scoreless innings, while striking out nine Royals to keep the Mets’ hopes alive. Despite the Mets’ near-equal inability to get on base — they had just three hits over the first nine innings — they were able to give Harvey a 2-0 lead at the end of eight innings.
Terry Collins was ready to send in Jeurys Familia to finish things out in the ninth. But Harvey wasn’t done. He pleaded with Collins to let him finish what he had started — as did the 45,000-plus screaming fans chanting his name. And Collins begrudgingly agreed to let him go back out for the ninth.
And we all know how that ended.
