This should come as no surprise, but Mets right-hander Matt Harvey has been named the NL Comeback Player of the Year. Major League Baseball made the announcement this morning. Prince Fielder was named AL Comeback Player.
Harvey, 26, made a career-high 29 starts and pitched 189 1/3 regular-season innings, going 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA, then made four more starts and threw an additional 26 2/3 innings in the postseason.
Before throwing eight innings against the Royals in Game 5 of the World Series, Harvey talked to MLB.com about what it meant to him to be able to return to the rotation with a full injury-free season.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “As a starting pitcher and being a younger guy, I think getting to that 200-innings limit is something you always look for. You kind of want to be a horse and go out there. You look at guys who have thrown 230 innings year after year after year. That’s who I’ve always wanted to be.”
“Leading into the season, you don’t know what to expect. Obviously going from zero innings, I couldn’t be happier. I think the best thing and the most positive thing is how I feel after the 200-inning mark, and quite honestly, it’s probably better than I did at the 100 mark. For me, the season was obviously an extreme success, just being healthy, playing, going out there every fifth day or whenever it was and being healthy and being where we are now. I don’t think anybody’s happier at that than I am.”
Congratulations to Matt, who was also named the Sporting News NL Comeback Player of the Year last week.
