‘Mystic Met’ No More: Harvey Sent Packing to Cincinnati

Mystic native's MLB career received a reprieve on Monday. After refusing
a demotion to the minors, the Mets shipped their one-time ace to the Reds
for catcher Devin Mesoraco.

CINCINNATI—The Sun Also Rises is a famous novel by the great Earnest Hemingway, about a group of American and British expatriates who travel to Pamplona to watch the Running of the Bulls. For Matt Harvey, formerly known in these parts as the “Mystic Met,” the sun will also rise. But like the characters in Hemmingway's classic, he will also be an expatriate of sorts as the Mets sent their one-time ace to the Reds on Monday for catcher Devin Mesoraco.

Harvey had fallen on hard times in New York, having had two major surgeries in the past four years. This year, he was 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA in eight games—four of them starts. A 2013 All-Star, the Mets demoted Harvey to the bullpen last month, and most recently designated the right-hander for assignment—which is MLB-speak for sending him to the minors—a move which Harvey declined, officially ending his tenure in New York and threatening his chances to continue in the majors.

 

But desperate times call for desperate measures, right? The Reds, hoping a change of scenery might turn around Harvey, the former Fitch High School star, offered the Mets Mesoraco, a 29 year-old backstop who made the 2014 National League All-Star Team and was just the second catcher in Reds history to hit 25 home runs and drive in 80 runs in a season. The other? Johnny Bench, of course.

Mesoraco has been limited lately, having played just 113 games in the past two seasons because of injuries. But the Mets, desperate for catching help after losing Travis d’Arnaud for the season with a torn UCL and Kevin Plawecki with a hairline fracture in his left hand, will welcome Mesoraco with open arms. This season, Mesoraco has hit .220 with one homer, two doubles and three RBIs in 18 games. Last year he started 39 games and hit six homers and knocked in 14 runs.

—Staff Reports