Speculate all want about trying to acquire Giancarlo Stanton, if you look at this guy, we’ve already got a piece of the future in place. He throws in the mid-90 s and has a great slider.
This year, in April thus far, he has been routinely dominant. He’s won 4 games and lost none. He’s accrued 32 Ks in 29 IPs and he has only walked 9 batters. He’s posted a .93 ERA and a .66 WHIP. He is averaging over 7 innings pitched per start. To put some perspective on this, consider that he is tied for the National League lead in wins, WHIP, and Innings Pitched. He is second in ERA.
Game-by-Game, he has allowed only 3 earned runs. He has allowed only 8 hits (including only 1 HR). He has thrown only 416 total pitches.
Last week, he won a duel against one of the premier pitchers in the major leagues, Stephen Strausburg. He displayed his Ace-Mentality after Daniel Murphy committed an error on a potential double-play ball. Harvey beared down, struck out Kurt Suzuki, then got Roger Bernadina to hit a pop-up and Denard Span to ground out. Prior to Harvey’s performance, they had never beat Strausburg before.
Fans cheered, “Harvey’s better!”.
Matt Harvey says he wants to be the best pitcher in the game. He has struck out 102 batters through his first 14 major league games. This ranks him third in franchise history; only Dwight Gooden and Nolan Ryan started their careers with higher strike-out totals. Mets manager, Terry Collins said, “his determination to be the best is what separates him”.
At Citi Field last Friday, 26,675 Met fans discovered that the Mets are finally adding some electricity to their stadium.
ARTICLE ADDENDUM: On Wednesday April 24th, Harvey pitched again. He did not get the win (although the Mets won in dramatic fashion on Valdespin’s walk-off Grand Slam Home-Run. He pitched 6 innings, struck out 7 and walked 1. He gave up 3 earned runs including a Home-Run. It was another quality start.
It’s really not hard to see why Harvey has become a fan favorite so very quickly. Being a young, dominant “phenom” will do that for you. Can’t wait to see how he handles the inevitable rough stretch. I’ve got a feeling he’ll handle it very well (performance wise).
It’s really not hard to see why Harvey has become a fan favorite so very quickly. Being a young, dominant “phenom” will do that for you. Can’t wait to see how he handles the inevitable rough stretch. I’ve got a feeling he’ll handle it very well (performance wise).
Drive. Hard work. Not settling for good enough. No drama. Results. Accepting the role of ace, in NYC, before his 15th start as a pro. Yeah, there’s plenty to be love about Harvey.
If he can start healthy … If Wheeler replicates these type of performances in any close degree….we can begin to put something meaningful together.