A story that seems to have been glazed over in the media outside of New York is the end of Matt Harvey's turbulent tenure with the Mets. After 3 years of injuries, struggles, and strained relationships with nearly everyone around him, the Mets finally cut ties on May 5th and designated him for assignment. It's the end of a wild chapter for a pitcher who was at one time the face of MLB and well on his way to becoming the next Joe Namath in terms of popularity and exposure to the limelight. It was only 5 years ago that a young Harvey burst onto the scene and placed 4th in Cy Young voting in his first full season and started for the Mets in the All-Star Game at Citi Field, which seems like forever ago now. Harvey would miss all of 2014 recovering from Tommy John surgery, and came back to be a solid contributor during the Mets' journey to the World Series in 2015. Just when he was starting to find his velocity again, he had season ending surgery in 2016 to relieve a nerve condition called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and has not been the same since. With a fastball now sitting in the low 90s, a lack of control, and a general disdain for the media, the Mets finally gave up on the once budding prospect and shipped him off to one of the few teams in the league that is bad enough to give him another chance - the Cincinnati Reds.
I remember the Mets World Series run of 2015 with the likes of Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, and Jacob DeGrom and thinking how dominant of a rotation this would be for the next 5 years. With Harvey now flamed out and Matz and DeGrom both going through elbow injuries, it looks like the window may already be closing. I'm going to 2 of the games of the Mets-Brewers series next weekend and I don't even know who's left in the rotation. It just goes to show that for every Chicago Cubs or Houston Astros where every part of the rebuild falls into place, there is a team like the Mets. Here's hoping they bring back Bartolo Colon.
STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 05.17:
Brewers 26-18, -- (3 @ Twins, 3 v. Diamondbacks, 4 v. Mets)
Reds 15-29, -11.0 (4 v. Cubs, 3 v. Pirates, 3 @ Rockies)
Twins 18-21, -1.5 (3 v. Brewers, 3 v. Tigers, 3 @ Mariners)
2018 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 2 (+6 worked)
Peter - 4
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.
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