Mets Articles

Matt Harvey Exceeding Expectations

A few years back, “60 Minutes” did a profile on some kid who everyone said was going to be the next great golfer. His name was Tiger Woods. It’s rare that people live up to their hype, but obviously Woods did. Perhaps the expectations for Matt Harvey were less than those for Woods, but just like Tiger, Harvey is not only meeting his lofty expectations, he’s exceeding them.

matt harvey
Matt Harvey throws pitch during Saturday’s game against Twins.

Harvey turned in another sensational start Saturday in frigid Minnesota, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning that was broken up on a Justin Morneau home run. Harvey ended up going eight innings, allowing the one run on just two hits.

In three starts thus far this season, Matt Harvey is 3-0 with a microscopic 0.82 ERA (his ERA actually went up on Saturday!). He has 25 strikeouts in 22 innings, but perhaps most impressive is that he has allowed just six hits over that span. Harvey has been figuratively, and at times literally, unhittable.

The funny thing is, whenever people around the Mets talked about Matt Harvey, it was often followed by, “He’s good, but Zack Wheeler is even better.” Harvey’s future looked set — he was going to be the Jerry Koosman to Wheeler’s Tom Seaver. Perhaps that still might happen, but Wheeler is going to have to be nearly superhuman if he’s going to surpass what we’ve seen from Harvey.

Harvey has all of the tools to be a Cy Young winner someday. In addition to an arsenal of pitches, he also has the mental toughness to bear down in tough times. There haven’t been many tough times this season, but when they do crop up, Harvey is able to turn it up a notch and get the job done.

It’s never a good idea to predict the futures of young players, unless you’re the type who like to be wrong. But Matt Harvey looks like he is the real deal. It’s going to be fun to watch him get even better over the course of his career.

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