Former New York Mets ace Matt Harvey has retired from baseball, per his social media accounts. Harvey last pitched in the majors in 2021.
The first three seasons of Matt Harvey’s big-league career were Cy Young-caliber, as he registered ERA’s under three, and even finished fourth place for the award in 2013, the same season he made the NL All-Star team.
That was the peak of Harvey’s career, which took a dark turn once he left New York.
Harvey’s final season with the Mets was in 2018, after which he signed with the Reds and then Angels. In Los Angeles, he abused drugs like opioids, and received pills from deceased former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs. Harvey testified about his drug use years later in the trial against former LAA communications director Eric Kay.
Mets: Matt Harvey should be remembered as Batman
In those early New York Mets days, Harvey was at the head of a rotation which featured the likes of Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and even Zack Wheeler. It was one of the best young cores in all of baseball, which is why in part New York made it all the way to the World Series in 2015, where they lost to the Kansas City Royals.
Harvey thanked Mets fans above all else for making his dreams a reality: “To the fans, most importantly the NY Mets fans: You made a dream come true for me. You are forever embedded in my heart. Goodbye, Baseball. And thank you.”
Harvey was known as the Dark Knight in those early-2010’s glory days. His fall from grace was notable at the time, but as we take a look back at his career in the years to come, it’ll be those Mets teams that really stand out.