1:40PM: Harvey will start the second game of the Royals’ doubleheader with the Reds tomorrow, the team announced.
11:28AM: Cue the inevitable “The Dark Knight Rises In K.C.” headlines. The Royals are calling right-hander Matt Harvey up to the Major League roster, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter). Harvey inked a minor league deal with Kansas City in late July and is now on track to earn the prorated portion of a $575K salary upon reaching the majors.
It isn’t known when Harvey could take the hill for K.C., given that the team’s schedule is somewhat in flux due to the rescheduling of games in their current series with the Reds. With Jakob Junis recently placed on the 10-day injured list and Mike Montgomery’s return potentially in question due to his placement on the 45-day IL, however, there is certainly opportunity for Harvey to find some innings in the rotation.
Harvey last appeared in a Major League game on July 18, 2019, the final outing of a rough tenure with the Angels that saw the former All-Star post a 7.09 ERA over 59 2/3 frames. After bursting onto the scene with the Mets earlier this decade, Harvey began to develop shoulder issues in 2016 that eventually led to thoracic outlet surgery, and the righty simply hasn’t looked the same since.
Since the start of the 2017 season, Harvey has a 5.89 ERA over 307 1/3 MLB innings. Between the end of his tenure in New York and his tough year in Anaheim, Harvey did perform decently well (4.50 ERA, 3.96 K/BB rate, 7.8 K/9) over a 128-inning stint with the Reds in 2018. Most recently, there were positive reports on Harvey at the Royals’ alternate training site, as GM Dayton Moore said he liked what he had seen from the 31-year-old’s work.
Bring up the big guns. Harvey to the rescue.
Heard a lot of good things about this kid. Hope he pans out.
Yep. Hitting the majors at the tinder age of 31. I hope he has the maturity to handle the exposure.
Home run Harvey, welcome back
Yet another chance for mr great personality and small ego….
Let’s see how he does this time.
Does he have any trade value. What would it take to get him. I’d rather have him than Happ
he just signed a MiLB deal so unless he looks amazing i dont see him having any trade value.
Happ is better than Harvey. Happ at least eats innings.
Lol it’s a dark night in KC with Harvey headed up
Almost had it. We were looking for “A bright day for a Dark Knight.”
edit: yeah, Dark Knight Rises was right there and I missed it too. Fine, good work Mark.
He was sometimes throwing in excess of 95+ last year and was still fodder. He may yet turn it around. I wouldn’t give up on him yet. KC might be a good place for to turn him around.
KC has done a pretty good job at turning around Angel rejects…. so why not.
Most pitcher friendly stadium he’s played in yet?
they “turned around” Bailey to some extent, which quite amazes me. (though i think that’s only relative)
There were a couple. Blanton comes to mind. But he wasn’t the only one.
Jason Vargas
Ryan Madson.
will they give him a tour of Kauffman the same way RIzzo gave a tour of Progressive Field to Kipnis?
looking forward to seeing this exciting prospect in action! oh wait…
When you get really deep into stats to try and see how some pitcher fastballs are faster than others despite looking slower, it takes you down a slippery slope. You might think of spin rate, which would create the illusion of a faster pitch because the ball doesn’t drop down. Extension from the rubber might be another. If a guy release the ball 7 feet in front of the rubber instead of 5, the ball will look faster. But then last night a guy by the name of Jimmy Herget came in. Relief arm, average guy who throws 92-93, but his fastball looked FAST, zippy. His extension was only 4 feet 9 inches, but the ball looked super quick. Truth be told, I could not find a single stat that showed why it looks so fast. Maybe it’s his motion, and the sling-shot type effect he has, but I don’t know. Point being, that Matt Harvey may be throwing 95 still, but it doesn’t matter if it is 95, it matters where you place it. He’s gonna have to rely on location, and hitting spots a lot more now, and not just trying to get one by a hitter.
I’m just saying he still has the arm. Of course he has to induce less and softer contact. But if he’s throwing in the 80s, that’s a lot less likely to happen than if he’s throwing in the mid 90s.
I understand, I was just stating what he might have to do now.
Batters can hit a 100 mph fastball if they know it’s coming and it gets too much plate. Then you see the Tigers’ Tyler Alexander whiff nine straight batters with a fastball that might touch 91. Command of multiple pitches can offset velo, and velo alone won’t get it done.
Scott, when I evaluate the possibility of pitchers to excel, the first thing I look at is the ability to miss bats on swings on pitches thrown in the strikezone and the ability miss bats on swings on pitches out of the strikezone.
Then I did deeper. But if a pitcher has that ability, they have a good chance of being successful. For pitchers who threw 50 innings, He was 264 out of 341 last year on the former. That’s not good.
that’s why they hire people with math degrees from big name schools to run teams these days
Rangers29, a guy from my team’s history (Mets) that always had that ‘sneaky’ fastball was Sid Fernandez. Not sure if his arm slot was hidden by his body angle or what, but his 92/94 looked like it exploded on hitters.
Harvey played a key role in the Royals’ 2015 World Series win.
I don’t have a ton of patience or sympathy for grown men who want to be Batman, but good for him for trying to get back to the bigs.
Completely unrelated, but…
The Fernando Tatis Jr. controversy is the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long time (from the sports world, at least).
Note to the Rangers’ manager: If you don’t think the opposing team should try to score more runs on you, then forfeit the game. Wave the white flag. Tip your king. Take your ball and go home. Until then…that is what your opponent is supposed to do.
Note to the Padres manager: If you don’t want your guys to score more runs because of some cockamamie tradition, then send them up to the plate without bats. Their job is to hit the ball. It’s unclear if you know what your job entails.
Note to Fernando Tatis Jr.: Ignore those dopes and hit the ball.
Apologies…for a grand slam. Just insane.
The Fernando Tatis Jr. controversy is the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long time
I’ve never known any hitter to give away an AB. There are some unwritten rules I completely agree with, but if you grove a 3-0 pitch, it’s going to get hit.
I completely agree with your take re the Tatis situation. Would there be such a conflict/debate if in the same at bat he jumped at the 1st pitch & sent it over the fence instead? I highly doubt it.
The Rangers need to give this some though: Victory is the best revenge!
Who else didn’t even know he was on a team lol
Well any person that is a REAL Royals fan knew he was on the Royals extended roster.
I did.
This is probably the last straw.
It’s too bad. That Outlet surgery is not ideal for pitching.
Shame he had thoracic outlet syndrome and zapped him of energy. He was fun to watch pitch.
Good luck Matt! Hope you’ve matured and everything works out.
Tanking teams that desperately try to create trade assets out of thin air are just sad. Like the Giants tried with Trevor Gott or the Royals are now trying with Harvey.
Why is it sad? Seems like smart business to me.
I agree with you.
He’ll be the Blue Knight if he blows the game. Wishing him the best though
The Dark Night returns. Going to be a LOOOOOOONG night when he’s pitching.
Fixed Rosenthal and Kennedy, maybe there’s still hope for Harvey I’m the pen.
Good to see him pitch again on his way to Cooperstown.
The poster child for the mantra “MLB baseball is extremely hard”.
Struggling hitters around baseball are celebrating. Here comes the slump-buster!