Matt Harvey made his major league debut one year ago today on July 26, 2012 at Arizona. (Pictured above) Since his debut, he holds the following ranks in the majors: fifth-most strikeouts (227); third-best ERA (2.38); second-best WHIP (0.97); the second-lowest H/9 (6.23) and baserunners/9 (8.94).
Harvey has appeared in 30 games (all starts) and has the lowest ERA (2.38) and WHIP (0.97) in franchise history after his first 30 games. His 2.38 ERA is the lowest mark for any pitcher since 1921, whose first 30 major league appearances were all starts.
The young Mets righthander also has the second-best WHIP (0.97) of any pitcher since 1921 through his first 30 career starts, trailing only Dick Hughes (0.925).
Harvey has 10 starts this year where he’s pitched 7.0 or more innings and has allowed one or fewer runs. That is tied for the most such starts in the majors with the Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.
Additionally, Harvey has six double-digit strikeout games, the most in the NL this year and is tied with Texas’ Yu Darvish for the for most in the majors. He is the sixth pitcher in team history to register six double-digit strikeout games in a single season, joining Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, David Cone, Sid Fernandez and R.A. Dickey.
Opponents have swung and missed at least 10 times in each of Matt Harvey’s last 23 starts, the longest current streak for any pitcher. His 28.9% missed swing rate is the third-best rate in the majors.
Matt Harvey is a game-changer for the Mets. Anything good from here on in is all because of this young man who gave the team hope from the moment he arrived. He is the most valuable player this team has and the the only established young core player that the team can build around. Hopefully there will be others, but for now Matt Harvey stands alone. With apologies to David Wright, right now, Harvey is the franchise.
