Former New York Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey finds himself without a job after the Los Angeles Angles designated him for assignment.
The Dark Knight no longer has a city to protect.
Former New York Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey has been designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Angels on Friday. The team announced the news after Harvey’s latest poor outing.
“The decision was made because we felt like it would increase our chance of winning games,” Angels manager Brad Ausmus said after discussing the move with general manager Billy Eppler, via AP. “Matt was a very well-liked teammate, a guy that everyone pulled for, including myself. But we’re in the business of winning baseball games. In talking to Billy, we just felt like this was the best move to make in order to help us win games.”
Harvey, 30, has pitched to a 5.65 ERA since his memorable outing in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series that left fans so tortured.
After he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds during the middle of the 2018 campaign, Harvey signed on with the Angels. His 2019 ERA currently stands at an astronomical 7.09 ERA to go along with a frightening 1.542 WHIP over 12 games started.
Of course, it wasn’t always this ugly for the righty.
Every fifth day in Queens was dubbed “Harvey Day” during the seasons of 2012 and 2013. He burst onto the scene as a rookie with sparkling stuff and energy. Finishing off the 2012 season with a 2.73 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 59 innings set the future in a bright way.
He followed it up in 2013 with an All-Star campaign, pitching to a 2.27 ERA and starting the All-Star Game hosted at Citi Field.
The Dark Knight hasn’t been the same since he underwent Thoracic outlet surgery a couple of years ago. That, coupled with missing the entire 2014 season thanks to Tommy John surgery, helped derail the once-promising kid’s career.
Now, Matt Harvey finds himself an unemployed big-league pitcher looking for work. The Angels have 10 days to negotiate a trade or outright release the artist formerly known as the Dark Knight.