New York Mets: Amid Criticism, Matt Harvey Bounces Back

This past month has been a rough one for Matt Harvey as the former New York Mets ace has not been performing up to expectations. After a great start on Monday, there should be considerably less concern over the 27-year-old’s struggles.

Monday was a much different scene than Matt Harvey‘s last home start. Instead of being booed off the field after giving up six earned runs in less than three innings of work, Harvey was greeted to a standing ovation as he walked off the mound after an impressive seven scoreless innings.

There has been a lot of debate over what the New York Mets should do with Harvey. One one hand, Harvey has still had good stuff throughout his recent slide and has a track record of performing well in the league. But many doubters were criticizing everything from his weight to a lack of mental fortitude, as something just seemed to be off for the 2015 National League Comeback Player of the Year.

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Some people suggested that Harvey should skip a start and try to regroup both mentally and physically. Others were under the belief that there was something medically wrong with him and he needed to be placed in the disabled list. Some even wanted too demote the former All-Star to the minors. Instead of doing any of this, New York stuck with their Opening Day starter and sent him out to go head-to-head against Jose Quintana. While this move was perceived as a bit surprising, Monday’s game showed that the Mets clearly made the right decision.

Throughout his career, Harvey has relied on a dominant arsenal of pitches to get hitters out. He’s had a K/9 rate of 8.9 or above in every season he’s pitched in and did a great job last season of not allowing free passes. However, Harvey has looked like a completely different pitcher in 2016. Having a 5.37 ERA and a walk rate of close to three per nine innings, he has just not looked like the guy that was being called the “Dark Knight” when he first came into MLB in 2013.

In his starts this season, Harvey looks to be struggling to throw the ball with the ease he’s had before. He is not using his lower half to generate power on his pitches and he’s looked fatigue in early parts of the game. This could be because he is pitching at a heavier weight or it could be a mental hurdle that he has to overcome. But the good news is that Harvey resembled the “Dark Knight” more than the pitcher he’s been this season in his start against the White Sox.

Sitting in the mid-90s on his fastball for his entire start, Harvey also threw the ball with excellent location only allowing one walk through seven innings. A start like this could be a major confidence booster for Harvey as he looks to forget about his early season woes. People should not expect Harvey to perform this way every start, but it should be encouraging to Mets fans that doubted him over the past month.

While sending him to the minors or skipping a start would have been justifiable with the way Harvey was pitching, the Mets did the right thing by continuing to show confidence in him. Monday’s outing clearly showed that the Mets are much better off starting Harvey every five days because of the pure stuff he has that many starers just don’t have.

He’s going to have to get in better condition in order to consistently go deep into games, but the mental toughness he showed against the White Sox was very impressive amid all the negative talk that he faced leading up to that start. If Harvey can pitch like that for most of his starts, the Mets are going to be a major threat to have another deep run into the postseason.

Next: Twins Send Phil Hughes to Bullpen

What do you think of Harvey’s bounce back start? How do you expect him to perform the rest of the season? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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