After a drama-filled — some of it simply thanks to the New York media — last few years with the New York Mets, Matt Harvey was traded to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday.
Harvey, 29, was one of the best pitchers in baseball in 2013 and 2015, featuring a fastball that averaged 96-mph, and three solid secondary pitches including a slider that averaged 90-mph. But over the last two seasons, Harvey has been brutal, with a 6.77 ERA, 6.22 FIP, and only 6.54 strikeouts per nine innings over that time. His velocity with the Mets was sitting in the 92-to-93-mph range this season. His commitment to baseball has been heavily questioned by the New York media.
But, again, this is a guy that was one of the best pitchers in baseball a few years ago, and he seemed like the perfect change-of-scenery candidate, especially for a (constantly) rebuilding team like the Reds to take a chance on. And maybe just getting away from the New York spotlight could do wonders for him.
On Friday night, Harvey made his Reds’ debut, and Cincinnati has to be encouraged from what the right-hander showed. Harvey threw four shutout innings, and the only hit he allowed was a flyball lost by the Reds’ Scott Schebler in the lights. He didn’t issue any walks and struck out two. He also hit 96-mph on the gun.
The new guy gets right to work. 🔥🔥🔥#RedsCountry pic.twitter.com/4QZUUxfrGq
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 12, 2018
Matt Harvey's rewriting the script in Hollywood. pic.twitter.com/h5LiXXzEqQ
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 12, 2018
Matt Harvey just hit 96 on the gun in LA. Nothing wrong with that.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) May 12, 2018
Tonight we saw the Matt Harvey we’re accustomed to seeing. The @Reds should be happy with what Harvey showed on the mound
— Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) May 12, 2018
Harvey only threw 55 pitches and could’ve surely gone longer, but the Reds had him on a limited pitch count in the debut. Additionally, it was probably a good move to just pull him while he has an outing to be proud of and build off of going forward.
It’s obviously hard to put much into a four-inning sample in baseball, but this is a promising start for Harvey and the Reds.