Matt Harvey impressing Kansas City Royals brass thus far

The Dark Knight may be about to rise with the Kansas City Royals, as Matt Harvey has been impressing team officials thus far.

It has been a long time since Matt Harvey looked like the ace he was supposed to be. Injuries and attitude problems robbed him of his ability, with Harvey’s last appearance on a major league mound concluding with a disastrous stint with the Angels. He had languished in free agency, even flirting with a trek to the Korean Baseball Organization, before the Kansas City Royals signed him as a lottery ticket.

Thus far, that gamble appears to be paying off. In fact, Harvey may end up in Kansas City in the near future.

It would be quite the resurrection for Harvey. That 2015 season, when he posted a 13-8 record, with a 2.71 ERA and a 1.019 WHiP, striking out 188 batters in 189.1 innings, appeared to be the first step to stardom.

Instead, that would prove to be the pinnacle of his career. Harvey showed up to the following spring training out of shape, and questions about his attitude began to circulate. He underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome and had issues with his shoulder before his ignoble departure from the Mets.

Aside from his time with the Reds, Harvey just did not look like a major league pitcher following that 2015 campaign. He has since posted a 19-31 record with a 5.65 ERA and a 1.468 WHiP, striking out 313 batters while issuing 138 walks in exactly 400 innings.

But again, times have changed. Harvey realized he needed to do something different. He rededicated himself to his training and has worked to change his mindset. Thus far, the results have been promising for the Royals in their alternate training site, but he still has to actually pitch in a major league game for anyone to know for certain.

For now, Matt Harvey is impressing the Kansas City Royals. If he can carry that into the majors, they may have struck gold on their lottery ticket.