Mets: Revisiting the best moments of Matt Harvey with the Amazins

Time to dust off the Bat-Signal: the Dark Knight is making his long-awaited return to Gotham. Former New York Mets ace Matt Harvey will be on the bump for the visiting Baltimore Orioles today to close out a two-game set in Flushing.

Harvey is no stranger to Citi Field – after a solid rookie campaign in 2012, he was a fixture of the starting rotation for a good four years before injuries and off-the-field antics caused him to fall from the good graces of Mets fans far and wide.

Once seen as a superhero of sorts (hence the DC Comics moniker), Harvey’s descent into villainy is the stuff of Mets legend. Such a precipitous drop-off in quality has been seen in Queens before (Roberto Alomar, anyone?), but Harvey’s case seemed different. It seemed more vicious, more personal.

The end of Matt Harvey’s time with the Mets

After what seemed like countless setbacks and run-ins with the reliably ruthless New York press, Harvey was DFA’d in 2018 after refusing a trip to the minor leagues. The Mets shipped him off, and his name became inextricably linked with vitriol and spite almost overnight.

Now, though, in 2021, things seem different. People don’t spit his name the way they used to. There’s some bite, sure, but it’s mellowed out. The steam emanating from the boiling anger of Mets fans has cooled, the ice over the proverbial river of forgiveness having thawed. Not completely, yet, but enough.

As for Harvey, he also seems different. Though he doesn’t have the same electricity coursing through his veins, he’s having his best season since 2015.

Entering Wednesday’s matchup, Harvey has a 3-2 record in seven starts with a 3.60 ERA. His 116 ERA+ is also his best in recent memory.

So, in anticipation of the Caped Crusader setting foot on once-familiar soil for the first time since 2018, I felt compelled to take it upon myself to remember the good times, and in the process, share them with all of you.

I’m going to be ranking these games by a metric called “Game Score.” Per MLB, “Game Score allows for a quick assessment of a particular pitcher’s performance, simply by looking at one easy-to-understand number.”

Developed by American baseball writer and sabermetrician Bill James in the 1980s, Game Score has been adopted as a definitive way to effectively compare great pitching performances across baseball history.

A score of 50 is considered average; the highest score ever recorded for a standard nine-inning game was 105, notched by young Cubs phenom Kerry Wood in his one-hit, 20-strikeout masterpiece in 1998.

[Note: That game is also significant because it came in his rookie year in just his fifth professional start, but that’s a story for another day on another site.]

There have been many great pitching performances in Mets history: Bobby Jones tossing a one-hitter to send the Mets to the NLCS in 2000; Tom Seaver’s “Imperfect Game”; Johan Santana delivering the first no-hitter in franchise history; Al Leiter’s complete-game gem in Cincinnati; or any time Jacob deGrom is on the mound.

However, it is also worth remembering just how lethal Matt Harvey could be when he had his best stuff.

So, I went hunting for some of his most memorable performances in a Mets uniform. What I found was not just a longer track record of success than I remembered – I believe I have been able to determine the definitive Matt Harvey performance.

As we await our former hero’s imminent arrival, let’s take a trip down memory lane. What better place to start than the beginning.

THE DEBUT: JULY 26, 2012

Location: Phoenix, AZ
Opponent: Arizona Diamondbacks
Result: Mets W
Game Score: 70

After a solid start with the minor-league affiliate Buffalo Bisons (now a part of Toronto’s farm system), Harvey got his first taste of big-league action in downtown Phoenix at Chase Field.

Unlike the rest of the Mets’ pitching staff, he did not disappoint.

Harvey got right to work, striking out the first batter he saw. He then did some damage with the lumber, collecting a two-out double in his first professional at-bat.

Harvey finished the game with a franchise record for strikeouts in a pitching debut (11) and became the first player since 1900 to strike out 10 or more batters and get two hits in his major league debut.

Final Line: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 11 K’s

BEATING THE BOMBERS: APRIL 25, 2015

Location: The Bronx
Opponent: New York Yankees
Result: Mets W
Game Score: 71

Entering this matchup, Harvey seemed to be on opposite ends of the spectrum to his opponent. Though one of this generation’s greatest southpaws, Yankees starter C.C. Sabathia was entering one of the worst years of his career, taking the mound with an 0-3 record.

Though the Met bats were plenty loud, Harvey’s performance commanded just as much attention. It wasn’t one of his tightest outings, but it did feature some of the best defensive plays of Harvey’s career.

The first of these came in the bottom of the second inning. With a man on first and no outs, Yankees catcher Brian McCann reached for a fastball up and out of the zone. The ball tapped the end of his bat, sending a light grounder into the infield grass.

Harvey came off the mound, bare-handed the ball, and made the play to first. He beat McCann by a single step, allowing the runner to advance but avoiding a potential jam in the process.

The next addition to his Gold Glove reel came in the very next inning. The beloved Alex Rodriguez was early on a hanging curveball, which he rocketed right back up the middle.

Harvey maintained his wits, catching the ball and protecting his shins, before taking a few steps to throw out Rodriguez and end the inning. The Mets would go on to hammer Sabathia to the tune of three homers and 7 runs in just five frames.

The win pushed Harvey to a 4-0 record, with his ERA sitting at 3.04.

Final Line: 8.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K’s

MR. NOVEMBER: NOVEMBER 1, 2015

Location: Flushing
Opponent: Kansas City Royals
Result: Mets L (Extra Innings)
Game Score: 71

“This isn’t Harvey Game??”

Nope! But it’s close.

The World Series is an event unlike any other. Considered the pinnacle of professional sports, it’s the clash at the end of the marathon that every 162-game season brings. The best of the best in the league going head-to-head for up to seven games, it is not hyperbolic to say that every player’s fantasy to be on the field on a crisp autumn night.

Though this game would end with a Mets (and World Series) loss, it wasn’t Harvey’s doing.

Well, not entirely, at least.

As expected, Harvey began his night on the world’s biggest stage with a strikeout. With elimination breathing down his neck, he proved to be the superhero we all thought he was, striking out 8 batters in his first five innings of work.

He would go on to pitch eight innings of scoreless baseball. Simply put, he was sensational.

Did he surrender two game-tying runs in the top of the 9th inning? Yes. That’s the unavoidable truth of the situation. To blame the loss on him, though, is misguided.

The Mets would hold the eventual-victor Royals scoreless into the 12th. Mets fans don’t need a reminder of what happened next.

Would they have even needed extra innings if Harvey hadn’t allowed those two runs? Maybe. Did the Mets also have an entire home half of the ninth and nine outs in extras to walk it off and extend the series? You bet.

Final Line: 8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 9 K’s

By now, you must be asking yourself, “Okay, we get it, he was much better than we are willing to admit, but where’s the good stuff? Where’s this ‘Harvey Game’ you bragged about finding?”

Ladies and gentlemen, I humbly present:

THE HARVEY GAME: MAY 7, 2013

Location: Flushing
Opponent: Chicago White Sox
Result: Mets W (Extra Innings)

Game Score: 97

And so, we have arrived.

Yes, this seemingly nondescript early-season start may have had all the trappings of a standard spring baseball game, but any semblance of a regular day at the ballpark was quickly dashed.

Harvey got to work instantly. Dealing with an actively bloody nose through the first several innings, he sat down 20 batters in a row, accumulating 9 strikeouts in the process.

He seemed like a man possessed: he was painting the corners with ease, a Renaissance man of many proportions mowing down any who dared cross his path. His curveball was breaking beautifully, his fastball averaging an easy 97 mph…for all intents and purposes, Harvey was simply unhittable.

Then came the seventh.

Chicago right fielder Alex Rios came to the dish. Ahead in the count with two outs, Harvey delivered a curveball that hung up in the zone just long enough for Rios to get around on it, sending a bouncing ground ball towards the gap on the left side of the infield.

New York shortstop Miguel Tejada played the ball as best he could, stabbing it with his glove just inches from the outfield grass and making a leaping, Jeter-esque throw across his body, only to be late by a matter of milliseconds.

Harvey was perfect no more.

Still, the maestro persevered. He followed the infield hit with another strikeout, his 10th of the evening.

He would go on to sit down the rest of the White Sox he faced in order, finishing his night with a career-high 12 strikeouts against zero walks.

At the end of regulation, Harvey had thrown nine innings of one-hit, no-run ball. It remains to this day one of the most underappreciated pitching performances in Mets franchise history.

Final Line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 12 K’s

What Have We Learned?

Matt Harvey was poised to be the cornerstone of a franchise that was digging its way out of the doldrums, positioning itself for the postseason and righting the many (many) wrongs made since 2006.

Entering the decade, he had the privilege of being thrust into the spotlight as a saving grace, a shining light in the increasingly dark tunnel that lead to an even darker clubhouse.

For a little while, that’s what he was.

Before deGrom became deGrom, the Mets had Harvey.

He was the Dark Knight. He was a mild-mannered average Joe who became something otherworldly at first pitch. He was the hero Flushing deserved, but not necessarily the one it needed.

In the three years since we packed his bags for him and kicked him onto the tarmac at LaGuardia, Harvey has had a bumpy road in baseball. Only this year he has seemed to come even remotely close to his former self. He may not have the same zip in his delivery, but it’s clear he’s working towards a personal rebirth on the mound.

So, I wish him the best. With significantly improved hindsight, I look back on his tenure fondly, even though it exploded in a very public ball of flames.

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Hopefully, he gets a warm welcome on Wednesday. Personally, I think he has earned it.