April 10, 2015 Brooklyn, NY It has been over 20 months since Matt Harvey, whose nickname is the Dark Knight, had his 2013 campaign ended with Tommy John Surgery. But his dominance of the Washington Nationals today proved that the Dark Night is back to captivate the city yet again. His stat line was 6 shutout innings, 9 strikeouts, with one walk beating out fellow phenome Steven Strasburg.
While Harvey was showcasing his dominance in the National League, Alex Rodriguez, who I call Robin due to him being the sidekick to Derek Jeter, hit his first homerun against the Toronto Blue Jays for his 655th career HR. His first homerun since September 2013, due to A-Rod missing the entire 2014 season for a suspension that was sanctioned by former commissioner Bud Selig for his use of performance enhancing drugs. Both New York teams struggled without their respective all-stars missing from action the whole 2014 campaign. The Mets although found some key players to solidify their rotation and the team in Harvey’s absence. But today showed why the Metropolitans missed him dearly last year.
Harvey had a stellar 2013 before he tore his ulnar collateral ligament. His stat line was as follows: 9 wins, 5 losses, a 5.2(WAR) wins above replacement, a 0.93 WHIP, and a 2,27 ERA. Today showed the importance and impact Harvey has, not only on the Mets rotation, but on MLB baseball.
A-Rod, who was always second to Derek Jeter, missed his farewell campaign while serving his one-year suspension. But maybe with Jeter gone, he can become a fan favorite and help the Yankees at third base who were ranked amongst the worst in the MLB last year in third base productivity.
Not only was A-rod’s standing ovation the loudest on opening day in Yankee Stadium, his homerun today proved that there would be a lot more ovations coming from the Yankee fans this year. Although the season is still young, today was a good sign that Harvey and A-rod can bring some prominence back to Gotham.