After being traded from the New York Mets, the team who drafted him seventh overall in the 2010 MLB Draft, to the Cincinnati Reds for catcher Devin Mesoraco in May, the Dark Knight of Gotham returns to Citi Field as a member of another team for the first time on Monday night.

Even though he isn’t scheduled to pitch, Matt Harvey‘s presence alone has caused quite the stir.

On Sunday afternoon, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported that “the Mets requested…that Matt Harvey [meet] with New York reporters [Monday] at 3:45 PM or 4:15 PM so it won’t conflict with Mickey Callaway‘s press conference at 4 PM…Harvey has decided to speak at 4 PM”.

By Sunday evening, the Reds were cleaning up the perceived damage leveled by Harvey’s comments, via Puma, “Harvey was unaware of the Mets’ request for a different time…But Harvey will probably talk around 4 PM…because it fits his schedule best”, adding that there was “no slight intended by Harvey.”

Once the time finally came for Harvey to speak to the media on Monday, though, everything went smoothly (video via Anthony DiComo, MLB.com).

“New York’s been my home for the last couple of years and I take a lot of pride in calling [New York] my home…there’s definitely a lot of different emotions,” he said. “I’m excited to be healthy and come back. I’ve had such good memories here, obviously recently they haven’t been so great…A lot of different things didn’t work out very well because of health reasons and stuff like that, and that made things tough.”

When asked if he had “any regrets” or if there was “any bitterness” towards the organization that drafted him, Harvey showed no ill will toward the Mets.

“No. Not at all…As I said, I have so much pride in being competitive, and I had so much success in [2013] and [2015], the injuries kind of just took a big toll on me. I wasn’t able to do my job the way I wanted to, the way I know I have and how I wanted to…”

Harvey was asked about the difference between playing for the Reds and playing for the Mets and the right-hander deadpanned, “Well, I’m not in the bullpen,” drawing laughs from the media corps. “Being in a rotation, being able to get normal workouts in, I think it’s definitely something I needed.”

When asked about his emotions after he was traded, Harvey was candid and completely honest about the situation.

“[It was] very different. There was a lot of tears, a lot of sad moments…It was really tough,” he said. “There was a lot of moments when I was injured that I really didn’t know if I was going to continue playing the game. When you struggle that much and put so much pressure on succeeding, and you just feel like you let everybody down, there was a lot of tough moments.”

As a member of the Mets from 2012 through May of this season, Harvey pitched to an earned-run average of 3.66 with a 1.192 WHIP, 3.44 fielding independent pitching rating, and a 3.5 strikeouts-to-walks ratio over 104 starts.

He missed all of the 2014 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, and then suffered from the effects of thoracic outlet syndrome through 2016 and 2017, making just 36 starts (5.78 ERA, 71 ERA+).

But those times in between the injuries, when Matt Harvey was healthy and truly The Dark Knight, was stuff purely made of legend.

Before his UCL reconstruction surgery, from 2012 through the second half of 2013, Harvey had a 2.39 ERA, a 152 ERA+, a 2.33 FIP, 0.985 WHIP, and 4.58 strikeouts-to-walks. As a cherry on top of his anointment as the next Mets star pitcher, as there have been quite a few, Harvey started the 2013 All-Star game in front of his home crowd at Citi Field.

Then, of course, after recovering, Harvey came back to make 29 starts in 2015, pitching to a 2.71 ERA over 189.1 innings, and leading the Mets to a National League pennant, losing the World Series in five games to the Kansas City Royals.

After the onset of his bout with thoracic outlet syndrome, no one really knew if Matt Harvey would ever regain the form that made him one of the most intimidating pitchers in all of baseball for a few years.

After it became clear that he probably wouldn’t make that type of progress in New York, the Mets moved him to the Reds, filling a glaring hole after the loss of Travis d’Arnaud, picking up Mesoraco, who has performed admirably.

Mets manager Mickey Callaway told reporters this afternoon that he is pulling for Harvey. “He goes out there and wants to be the best baseball player he can be. I always want to see him have success,” Callaway said.

Since joining Cincinnati, Harvey has experienced a revival of sorts. He’s got a 4.79 ERA in 15 starts for the Reds with an 87 ERA+.

He’s not back to being The Dark Knight, by any means. But he has certainly had a few nice starts, including a terrific stretch from June 15 to July 13 (six starts) that saw him throw 34 innings with a 2.38 ERA and a .236/.297/.268 slash line against.

Many were expecting Harvey to be traded at the July 31 deadline but, alas, he was not. It’s still possible that he could be moved before the August 31 waiver deadline (and September 1 postseason-eligibility cutoff).

Opinion

Matt Harvey nearly gave his career trying to win a championship for the New York Mets. He had some issues. Who doesn’t? If you’re at the game tonight, cheer for him. If you see him, tell him you’re glad he’s doing well. Hope that he continues to find success both on and off the field. It’s the least we can do.