The Dark Knight has risen at the World Baseball Classic.
Former Mets All-Star Matt Harvey, who has tried to rebuild his MLB career in recent years by bouncing around to a handful of other teams, allowed one run on two hits across four innings on Sunday in Team Italy’s 7-1 victory over the Netherlands, whose lineup features Xander Bogaerts, Jurickson Profar, Didi Gregorius and Jonathan Schoop.
With the win, Italy escaped a five-way tie — where all teams in their group finished 2-2 — and advanced from Pool A into the quarterfinals.
And at the center of its pitching staff was Harvey. His ERA settled at 1.29 after a pair of starts, and his fastball sat around 89 mph while peaking at 91 — far from where that pitch sat during his best years with the Mets.
Harvey, 33, has only allowed four hits and one walk in seven innings, while striking out three batters.
It’s the ninth-best ERA among World Baseball Classic pitchers who have started at least one game, and Harvey holds the best number among pitchers who have made two starts since the tournament began March 7.
Harvey threw three scoreless innings against Cuba in his first outing on Thursday, where he faced former Mets teammate Yoenis Céspedes.
“As far as World Series versus this, I think it’s kinda hard to compare,” Harvey said following that first start, according to SNY. “It was kind of a different time back then playing with the Mets, and what we did, it was a pretty special time and it was electric playing at home. I was a little bit younger, so things got going a little bit more for me at the time.
“This was an unbelievable win for us here, and obviously, it was incredible for me to get the ball the first game. And I couldn’t be more proud of put up zeros for the team.”
Harvey’s career has been anything but stable following New York’s appearance in the 2015 World Series, though.
He spent two more years with the Mets but never won more than five games in a campaign, and in 2018, the Mets traded him to the Reds and ended the tumultuous tenure.
Following his Mets years, Harvey spent time with the Reds, Angels, Athletics, Royals and Orioles and also participated as a witness in the trial for former Angles communications director Eric Kay, who was later sentenced to 22 years for providing drugs that led to the death of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, Harvey’s former Los Angeles teammate.
During his testimony, Harvey admitted to cocaine use previously in his career — something he claimed the Mets never asked him about — and providing opioids to Skaggs while teammates in Los Angeles.
He was suspended 60 games by the Commissioner’s Office in May 2022 for distributing that drug to Skaggs.
Harvey is currently a free agent.
