Former starting pitcher Matt Harvey has announced his retirement from Major League Baseball at 34 years old, he announced on Instagram. The veteran first debuted with the Mets in 2012 and pitched for nine seasons in the league.
Harvey opened his goodbye message by describing one of his favorite games as a Met, on April 19, 2013, when he outdueled the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg in New York and Mets fans cheered “Harvey’s Better.” Harvey allowed just one run over seven innings as the Mets beat the Nationals 7–1 and he lowered his ERA to below 1.00 on the season.
“Even with aspirations to be great, or even the best, a moment like that hits your soul,” he said. “It was a moment of success, I never wanted it to end.”
Matt Harvey on the "Harvey's Better" chants from April 19, 2013:
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 5, 2023
"That day will forever stay in my dreams. I know I pitched well and we were on our way to a win, and as I'm sitting in the dugout, all I hear is the chants overtaking Citi Field...I never wanted it to end." pic.twitter.com/Skx6wMj6HU
Harvey arrived as one of the Mets top prospects in 2012 and took the city by storm, totaling an ERA under 2.50 in his first 36 starts. He required Tommy John Surgery in 2014, but returned in 2015 to help New York win the National League pennant.
However, Harvey wasn’t the same pitcher after that 2015 season. He struggled mightily in 2016 and 2017, and the Mets traded him to Cincinnati in 2018. Harvey bounced around between the Reds, Royals, Angels and Orioles, last pitching in the majors in 2021.
“Believe me, I wish I could have done more and brought more of those amazing moments back to life,” Harvey said. “I have to say this is my time to say thank you, and goodbye.”
Harvey finishes his career with a 4.42 ERA, but his best years with New York will forever live in Mets fans’ minds.
“To the fans and most importantly NY Mets fans: you made a dream come true for me,” he wrote. “A dream I never could have thought to be true. Who would have thought a kid from Mystic, CT could be able to play in the greatest city in the world, his hometown. You are forever embedded in my heart.”
Late in his MLB career, Harvey became a figure at the center of the scandal surrounding the death of former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs. Harvey testified at the trial of former Angels communications director Eric Kay regarding Skaggs’s overdose and admitted that he gave Skaggs opioids while they were teammates. MLB suspended Harvey 60 games in 2022 for that admission, while he was a free agent.
