Matt Harvey, Los Angeles Angels
Toward the end of 2015, most would’ve laughed at starting pitcher Matt Harvey settling for a one-year, $11 million contract in his first trip through free agency. Unfortunately, injuries combined with some poor off-field choices in New York have completely changed the trajectory of his career.
After getting traded early in 2018 to the Cincinnati Reds, Harvey mostly looked like a serviceable MLB starter again. Over 128 innings, he hurled a 4.50 ERA with a 1.25 WHIP, 20.6% strikeout rate, 5.2% walk rate, and 1.5 fWAR. Those were (mostly) all vast improvements compared to what he did with the Mets in injury-shortened seasons of 2016 and 2017.
The upcoming campaign is crucial for all the obvious reasons — he gets another fresh start in a new city (and league), will be starting every fifth day, and has another chance to recoup some value before re-entering the market. Two things he’ll need to get under control to have a successful year include his hard-hit rate (38.9% in ’18, increased each year since ’13) and his homers allowed per nine innings (1.57 in ’18 and 2.04 in ’17).
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