The era of the Dark Knight is over, as the New York Mets have designated Matt Harvey for assignment.
The Dark Knight has fallen. The New York Mets are designating Matt Harvey for assignment, as reported by MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.
BREAKING: The Mets have requested that Matt Harvey agree to a minor league assignment. He refused to accept, and will be DFA'd.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) May 4, 2018
Harvey’s designation comes after the former ace refused to go to the minor leagues according to DiComo. Although Harvey had a great start to his career, he has struggled recently, even being demoted to a bullpen role by manager Mickey Callaway earlier this season.
Harvey joined the Mets with plenty of fanfare, and delivered, pitching to a sparkling 2.53 ERA from 2012-2015, while sitting out all of 2014 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He was an All-Star in 2013 and finished fourth in the National League Cy Young Award voting that season.
Harvey struggled in 2016, pitching to a 4.76 ERA before being shut down for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. He returned in 2017, but has been a shell of his former self since the surgery. He pitched to a 6.70 ERA in 2017, missing a long chunk of the season with injury. It’s been more of the same this season, and in 27 innings he has thrown to an ugly 7.00 ERA.
Callaway said that he wanted Harvey to go to the minors to rebuild himself, but that Harvey didn’t want to, so the team decided to cut bait.
Mickey Callaway: "We feel like we failed Matt Harvey."
Callaway says he wanted Harvey to try to rebuild himself in the minors, as Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee famously did in the past. Harvey was not interested in that path.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) May 4, 2018
Harvey has always frustrated the Mets with some of his off-field antics, although the team was willing to put up with him while he was dominating opposing hitters. However, as his performance declined, the team became less tolerant of his antics.
The issues came to a head last year when Harvey was suspended for three games for failing to show up to a game. It later came out that he had been out partying the night before the game he failed to attend. His refusal to report to the minors was the final straw for the team.
Harvey was supposed to lead a dominant Mets rotation with Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Jacob deGrom, and Steven Matz. However, it now appears that he will go down as what could have been. Unfortunately, he was never able to adapt to his new abilities after his Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, and it cost him his Mets career.
