Okay, Matt Harvey is the MVP of Yesterday- I mean, if not for a Alex Rios infield-hit he would have had 9 perfect innings (although who knows what may have happened in the 10th, assuming he still would have pitched, which is definitely in the air). But, well, let’s take a second to look at Harvey.
He made his debut last season, and immediately impressed, giving up only 3 hits and striking out 11 in 5.1 IP in his first game. That was a new Mets record for Ks in a debut, by the way, and when you consider that Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden and Nolan Ryan have made their debut with the Mets, you realize how impressive that is, although admittedly Ryan’s debut was in relief. While his record in 2012 ended up being an unimpressive 3-5, that hides the fact that he had an impressive 2.73 ERA and a 10.6 SO/9 that would have been the league leader if he had had enough innings to be eligible.
But this year, he really has shown his stuff. Quite frankly, while the season is still young, he must be considered the early leader for NL Cy Young (barring injury or a downturn), and is a near-certainty (assuming his rotation schedule holds up) to start for the National League in Flushing this All-Star Game. He has a microscopic 1.28 ERA that is behind only Jake Westbrook, he has the lowest WHIP and H/9 in all of MLB and he has the best WAR in all of baseball when going by Baseball Reference.
If he can keep anything like this up, by the end of the year Harvey may be the king of New York. Which doesn’t happen all that often when you are a Met.
MVP standings after the jump:
The Baseball Continuum 