He is the Dark Knight. The former ace of a young New York Mets rotation, Matt Harvey, is far away from his "old" self after a 2014 Tommy John surgery put a bump in the road, but, under the new coaching and training staff, he has made strides towards revamping his career through a new style of play.
Harvey in 2018
The Mets have gotten off to a better start than any fan could have hoped for coming into the 2018 season. Sitting at 7-1 - tied for the best record through eight games in franchise history - the Mets sit atop the NL East by 1.5 games.
Harvey is currently the fourth pitcher in the Mets early four-man rotation that will gain its fifth man as Zack Wheeler will be called up from Triple-A to make the start against the Miami Marlins Wednesday, completing the long-awaited 'five aces.' The Mets have been able to get away with a four-man rotation due to days off and postponed games.
Pitching 10.0 innings, Harvey has posted a 3.86 ERA with a 1.20 WHIP, throwing five shutout innings in his season debut against the Philadelphia Phillies, then getting a bit roughed up by the Washington Nationals on Sunday night. He was limited to 86 pitches in both games.
Though Harvey hasn't pitched his absolute best stuff so far this season, the league is witnessing the transformation of the 29-year-old. The Dark Knight, through his transformation, has slowed down the velocity of his pitches in order to maintain more control of his selections throughout games.
After his Tommy John surgery, Harvey always had an issue with overthrowing balls to make up for what velocity he was lacking which made him throw more erratically, but his slowed down pace has paid off in the early goings of the season.
Throughout his career, Harvey's four-seam fastball has always been 95+ mph, besides the end of 2017 where he saw his velocity drop to about 94, but in the young season, he has come down to about 92, which is just below the league average (92.75 mph) according to the MLB.com Statcast.
His slider and changeup have experienced slight dips as well, as his slider has gone from 89-90 mph earlier in his career to the 87 range and his changeup going from about an 88 mph to an 86.
None of his pitches have experienced more of a velocity change than the curveball. This pitch, going anywhere from the 83-85 range depending on the year, dropped significantly as Harvey is throwing it at 78 mph to start off the season.
Harvey's composure has also given him a boost in 2018. Harvey has been a player with a shaky composure who can get easily frustrated, but he has been more locked in this season which has paid off with some early success.
Though the former All-Star maintains a 0-0 record on the season, the Mets have won in each of his two starts.
Harvey and the Mets after 2018
There are a lot of rumors going around that this will be Harvey's last season in a Mets uniform. He is currently playing on the last year of his contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
There are a lot of variables that will determine the future of Harvey with or without the Mets. The veteran playing in his fifth season, aside from his 2014 where he didn't see the field at all, needs to see how this year plays out in order to figure out his next destination.
If Harvey finds success under his new regimen, then he may choose to stick with the Mets in hopes of continuing to work on Harvey 2.0.
The Mets are also a team on the upswing right now, so New York may be one of his better options in winning a World Series, if that is of course, what he is aiming to do in his career over earning more money.
If Harvey finds success this season, he may also use it to up his free agency value. There are a lot of teams that can use a quality starter like Harv. In a rotation like the one the Mets have, it's easy to be overshadowed by players like Noah Syndergaard and Jacob DeGrom, so Harvey may be looking for an opportunity to be a number one or two guy in a rotation elsewhere.
If Harvey does not find success this season and continues his struggles for a third straight year despite the transformation, then who knows where he will end up.
He obviously has the potential to be on a roster, but he'd end up being a cheap fourth or fifth starter in a decent rotation.
As of now, everything seems to be trending upwards for Harvey and the Mets pitching staff under their new coaching. The Dark Knight doesn't look to be due for a career year, but a low to sub-3.00 ERA season wouldn't be out of reach for him.
If he does post these numbers, then it'll raise the question: does Harvey stick with the Mets who helped turn his career around or go elsewhere in search of more money?
