Could San Francisco Giants Go After Former New York Mets Phenom Matt Harvey?

Here we take a look at the possibility of the San Francisco Giants taking a chance on the disgraced Matt Harvey who was designated for assignment recently.

After years-and-years of struggling back in the early part of this decade, it seemed the New York Mets had no hope and no future heading into the 2012 season.

From 2009-2011, they finished with 70, 79, and 77 wins respectively, but a glimmer of hope came through in the 2012 season — a Dark Knight.

Looking for a savior, the Mets put out the Bat Signal and Matt Harvey burst onto the scene in July 2012. In his major league debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field, he pitched five innings of shutout ball, amassing 11 strikeouts.

Three years later, after battling injuries, Harvey had his best season, going 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA, heroically leading the Mets to the World Series — one they would lose to the young Kansas City Royals.

That year, the Dark Knight only gave up 156 hits in 189 1/3 innings, striking out 188, while only walking 37. His WHIP was a minuscule 1.019.

But after 2015, things changed.

Battling injuries and some off-the-field issues, Harvey looked defeated. From 2016-2018, he went 8-16 with a 5.93 ERA in 49 games.

His WHIP swelled to 1.578, and he gave up 254 hits in 212 1/3 innings during that three-season period.

But somewhere, that talent is still in there because in those three years, he still had a better than 2:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio  (163 strikeouts versus 81 walks).

And that is where the San Francisco Giants come in. The team that has been known to turn throwers into pitchers and to help pitchers who lost their way regain form.

Ryan Vogelsong, Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla — the list goes on. Could Harvey be the next reclamation project for the Giants?

At least one longtime Giants beat writer thinks so.

On Friday, the Mets announced they were designating Harvey for assignment after he refused to go to the minors.

That’s when Henry Schulman, of the San Francisco Chronicle, suggested the Dark Knight could be punching out batters near the Gotham Club at AT&T Park.

Schulman added on Twitter:

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As Schulman mentioned, the Giants will probably wait until he clears waivers so they don’t exceed the CBT–they don’t want to incur further penalties, and they want to keep their high draft picks.

But the starting pitching situation is not as dire for the Giants as it was a few hours ago.

According to Jon Heyman of FanRags, Johnny Cueto will pitch again this season and will not require season-ending surgery:

Cueto was surely the best pitcher for the Giants this season. He was 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA, giving up just 16 hits in 32 innings pitched. His WHIP was just 0.688.

And the Giants are celebrating he will not need Tommy John surgery.

But given all the National League West talent going on the shelf with various injuries, the Giants would be wise to take a flier on Harvey. Cueto could reaggravate that elbow or another freak injury could happen.

The team with the best depth usually makes it through the grind of 162 games. Just ask the National League Champion Los Angeles Dodgers last year.

Next: Next Up for San Francisco Giants with Johnny Cueto Out 6-8 Weeks

Harvey would certainly provide options in case disaster strikes.

The Giants would always have the option to call the Dark Knight to save the day–hopefully.