New York Mets right-hander Matt Harvey has been named the Sporting News NL Comeback Player of the Year.
The award was voted on by MLB players, who had Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez finishing in second place.
1. Matt Harvey, Mets — 72
2. Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies — 66
3. Joey Votto, Reds — 25
4. Michael Wacha, Cardinals — 13
5. Andre Ethier, Dodgers — 3
6. A.J. Burnett, Pirates — 2
7. Others — 17
Harvey missed the 2014 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and after a lengthy recovery process, he returned this season to make 29 starts for the NL East-winning Mets, going 13-8 with 188 strikeouts and a 4.3 WAR. His 2.71 ERA was good for sixth in the NL.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Matt and what he has accomplished this year, and coming back from that surgery, pitching as much as he has, as well as he has, and his determination to pitch in the postseason,” Mets GM Sandy Alderson told Sporting News.
Awesome… Congratulations to the Dark Knight…
October 2 – Harvey Deserves Comeback Player of the Year Award
Matt Harvey has been nominated for the comeback player of the year award in the National League along with Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies and Joey Votto of the Reds. (CBS New York)
Harvey, who missed all of 2014 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, has been excellent in his first year back from injury.
His record stands at 13-7, and he has an impressive 2.80 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in 183 innings pitched. He’s undoubtedly been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year as his numbers rank towards the top of the charts in most categories. Harvey is 10th in the MLB in ERA, 8th in WHIP and has the 11th best strikeout to walk rate at 4.78.
However, Harvey will face some tough competition to win the award as Gonzalez and Votto have both had strong bounce back seasons. Gonzalez has crushed 40 home runs and 96 RBI for Colorado and has been almost unstoppable after the all-star break with a .643 slugging percentage and .978 OPS.
Meanwhile, Votto has returned to his MVP from with a .317 average, 27 home runs and 79 RBI. He also leads the MLB in walks with 142 and has a tremendous 1.012 OPS.
Still, I think Harvey comes out on top. He’s faced so much more adversity than the other two candidates as he worked his way back from surgery and even had to deal with the intense media spotlight of New York. He overcame all of these issues and still pitched like an ace.
Gonzalez and Votto have certainly been great, but Harvey is more deserving of the award.
