The Dark Knight Rises?
Matt Harvey certainly hopes so. The veteran right-hander was named to the Baltimore Orioles Opening Day roster on Thursday as the former Mets ace seeks a career revival.
Harvey, who turns 32 on Saturday, signed a minor-league contract with the Orioles in February but showed enough in three spring starts to make the lowly Orioles squad, although his stat line did not quite jump out.
Harvey allowed six earned runs on 10 hits while striking out six in 10 innings pitched. In a spring training game against the Yankees, his fastball was clocked at around 91-93 mph.
Yet, the Orioles’ starting rotation is thin and inexperienced, hence bringing in Harvey, as well as other veterans Felix Hernandez and Wade LeBlanc to compete for a spot. Hernandez is actually battling elbow soreness, which may have helped Harvey’s chances of making the team.
Harvey’s career has been a classic example of “what could have been.” The right-hander burst onto the scene with the Mets in 2013, starting the All-Star Game at Citi Field and establishing himself as the ace of the staff.
After missing the 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery, Harvey came back with another strong 2015 seasons in which he posted a 2.71 ERA and helped lead the Mets to the NL pennant.
But questions about his innings usage began to rise and the next few seasons were mired by more injuries and off-the-field headlines in the New York tabloids.
After a disastrous start to the 2018 season, in which Harvey was relegated to the bullpen, the Mets designated the former ace for assignment.
Since, Harvey has bounced around from the Reds, Angels and most recently Kansas City Royals but his struggles continued and he’s failed to recapture the magic from his early Mets days.
Perhaps Harvey can find a new home now in Baltimore.
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