As Albert Pujols pulls closer to 3,000 career hits, Si's Albert Chen shares whether he thinks the legendary hitter will go down as a top 10 hitter in baseball history. Time
Matt Harvey, who once had superstardom in his grasp in the country's biggest market, will not pitch again for the New York Mets.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson told reporters on Friday that Harvey, the 2013 National League Rookie of the Year, refused a trip to the minor leagues and will be will be designated for assignment.
So ends a run with the Mets that saw Harvey rocket to fame as the club's most electrifying young arm since Dwight Gooden, get sidetracked by Tommy John surgery, return to glory with the 2015 World Series club, only to ultimately be felled by a shoulder condition that precipitated his downfall.
Along the way - and to the very end - he made headlines as one of Gotham's most notorious bachelors, his break-ups and late nights providing fodder for the city's tabloids along with his oft-electrifying pitching.
MORE MLB
- World Series preview in May? This team certainly hopes so
- Ichiro: The last of his kind
- Another gruesome injury for Dodgers
He will end his Mets career with a whimper: Posting a 7.00 earned-run average in eight appearances, the last four from the bullpen even after he defiantly insisted to reporters: "I'm a starter."
Now, he's not even a Met, a precipitous fall from a level of stardom that likely reached its apex in July 2013, when, as a rookie, he was the National League's starting pitcher for the All-Star Game at Citi Field, one-upping Clayton Kershaw and pitching two spotless innings, striking out three.
That August, however, his right elbow gave way and he underwent Tommy John surgery, which wiped out his 2014 season and set the stage for a wild 2015.
He roared back from his Tommy John surgery after a 17-month layoff, winning his first five starts as the upstart Mets embarked on an unexpected run to the World Series.
Along the way, he courted controversy again when his agent, Scott Boras, insisted that his client be shut down at 180 innings, per doctor's orders, despite the Mets' imminent playoff appearance.
The firestorm eventually passed, Harvey tossed 189 1/3 innings and then flourished in the playoffs, beating the Dodgers and Cubs as the Mets rolled into their first World Series in 15 years.
And in a must-win Game 5, Harvey seemed to have his quintessential career moment, taking a shutout into the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals. Fans chanted his name - "Har-VEY! Har-VEY!" they roared - and implored manager Terry COllins to leave him in.
Collins complied, but Harvey didn't get an out in the ninth inning, and the Mets eventually lost to the champions in 12 innings.
That was the beginning of the end.
Felled by thoracic outlet syndrome the next season, he made just 16 starts before undergoing season-ending surgery. The next season wasn't much better, as he posted a 6.70 ERA in 19 games, 18 of them starts, before tumbling from the rotation this year.
The Mets have 10 days to trade or release Harvey, who will become a free agent after the season.
Much like his career, that venture won't turn out at all like anyone imagined.
