NEW YORK — Matt Harvey, the brash, fireballing pitcher who assumed a superhero persona as he rose to prominence in Queens, then tumbled again to mortality amidst accidents and controversy, introduced his retirement Friday from skilled baseball.
“Goodbye, baseball. And thank you,” Harvey wrote on Instagram, captioning an extended missive during which he reminisced on his profession and thanked his household, pals, followers and former teammates.
A primary-round Draft choose of the Mets in 2010, Harvey captivated New York three years later when he went 9-5 with a 2.27 ERA over 26 begins, beginning the All-Star Game at Citi Field and making frequent appearances on the gossip pages of metropolis tabloids. That summer season, he appeared on the duvet of Sports Illustrated alongside the title “The Dark Knight of Gotham,” spawning a nickname that might stick for the remainder of his profession.
But Harvey’s story shortly grew to become certainly one of misplaced potential, as he underwent Tommy John surgical procedure that August and missed the whole 2014 season, publicly sparring with crew officers over particulars of his rehab.
The subsequent yr, he returned to the mound and loved renewed success as a part of a super-rotation that got here to incorporate Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz, all whereas followers and crew officers stored shut watch on his innings whole. Initially reticent to pitch within the postseason, Harvey ultimately relented and responded with the capstone efficiency of his profession: eight scoreless innings in World Series Game 5 towards the Royals. But supervisor Terry Collins’ resolution to depart Harvey in for the ninth inning of that recreation resulted in two runs that led to defeat.
In retrospect, that evening was the climax of Harvey’s profession. His 2016 marketing campaign wound up being a shell of what had come earlier than, and it was revealed round midsummer that he wanted surgical procedure to take away a rib and alleviate signs of thoracic outlet syndrome. Harvey by no means actually recovered. Amidst flagging velocity, he produced a 6.70 ERA the next season and was traded in 2018 to Cincinnati, the place he started the method of bouncing to 5 groups in 4 seasons.
In Anaheim, Harvey grew to become embroiled in controversy following the loss of life of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs from an unintentional overdose in 2019. Harvey testified that he had offered Skaggs with medication whereas the 2 had been teammates. His testimony got here throughout the trial of Eric Kay, a former Angels worker who was finally convicted of giving Skaggs the oxycodone that led to his loss of life. MLB suspended Harvey for 60 video games in 2022 for violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment program.
In 2021, Harvey returned to Citi Field for the primary time as an opponent and obtained a number of standing ovations. He pitched in Baltimore’s Minor League system in 2022 however didn’t make it again to the Majors, turning into a free agent final November.
Harvey’s final act in a high-level competitors was to pitch for Team Italy within the 2023 World Baseball Classic. There, he skilled sufficient success to entertain ideas of a comeback, however two months later, Harvey introduced his retirement.
He completed his massive league profession with a 50-66 report, a 4.42 ERA and 867 strikeouts over 966 1/3 innings.
Content Source: www.mlb.com