New York Mets: Matt Harvey, a victim of his own arrogance

Matt Harvey’s time with the New York Mets is ending because he is a victim of his own arrogance.

Seeing Matt Harvey pitch was once a time that New York Mets fans marked on the calendar. “Harvey Day” would come up in the rotation with much fanfare. He came up from the minor leagues with excitement comparable to the days of Dwight Gooden and Tom Seaver. For the most part, Harvey lived up to those expectations and delighted Mets fans start after start.

The pinnacle came in the 2015 World Series, game number five. Mets fans will all remember this:

Until that ninth inning, Matt Harvey may never have been better than on this night. Unfortunately that was the best we would ever see out of Harvey. Injuries did him no favors. After returning from Thorassic Outlet Syndrome, he was never the same. Some of the zip was gone from his fastball and much of his invincibility was gone.

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In 2018 he went to the bullpen and now he has been DFA’d. The Matt Harvey era has ended and he will soon be off the team.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. As we look back at the time Harvey spent with the Mets, we learn that much of his downfall was his own doing. Matt Harvey became a victim of his own arrogance.

Let me tell you what I mean.

Part of it has to do with the off the field shenanigans. A young man coming into the big city is going to get enamored by the opportunities there. Harvey was no exception. It has all been well-documented so there is no reason to go through all of them. We will just say he had a good time in New York.

That can be forgiven if the player is going well. Guaranteed, nobody was thinking about the parties, or about his agent trying to keep him out of the playoffs, or anything else when Harvey was blanking the Kansas City Royals in game five of the World Series. If he can balance off the field with on the field and still perform, it’s OK.

However, when it gets out of balance, something has to change. Otherwise it is arrogance that makes one believe they can continue on the same path.

Nobody is saying that the injuries are his fault. He didn’t purposely injure himself to need Tommy John surgery. He didn’t give himself Thorassic Outlet Syndrome. What is his fault is not adjusting his life accordingly. Harvey had to work harder than in the past to stay at the top of his game. That’s what happens when you have been injured, you must spend more time working your craft.

Partying out on the road was not a good idea, yet Harvey decided to do that anyway. Rather than rest up for his next performance, he was out on the town. He’s not good enough anymore to behave that way, but because Matt Harvey is arrogant, he thought that he was. It worked out badly.

Harvey didn’t help himself at all by being publicly ticked off about going to the bullpen. Following his debut, he decided it was appropriate to swear at reporters. Instead of manning up to what was going on, he handled it the way he did. If that isn’t arrogance on the part of Matt Harvey I don’t know what is.

It showed that Matt Harvey doesn’t care about what is best for the team. He cares about what is best for Matt Harvey, and that is bad.

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The ultimate arrogance was refusing to go the minors. Going to the minors does not mean the end of your career. It just means you need to get a little help. Harvey felt he was beyond help and refused to go. That led to him being designated for assignment. His remaining in the majors was more important than what was best for the team.

It’s a real shame. Harvey could have resurrected his career right here in New York. He would have had the chance if he weren’t so arrogant.

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