It’s like he never left.
Matt Harvey returned from Tommy John surgery this afternoon for his first regular season game action in nearly 20 months and looked every bit as dominant as he did before blowing out his elbow.
Expected to be on a limit of around 90 pitches, Harvey tossed six shutout innings and finished with 91 pitches. He cruised through five shutout innings on 77 pitches and manager Terry Collins let him bat for himself in the top of the sixth frame. Harvey struck out after unsuccessfully trying to bunt against Stephen Strasburg and then tossed a 1-2-3 sixth inning.
Harvey overpowered Nationals No. 3 hitter Bryce Harper, who struck out three times in three at-bats swinging through mid-90s high heat each time. And he struck out the final batter he faced, Clint Robinson, for his ninth whiff of the game.
Harvey’s final line:
- 6 innings
- 4 hits
- 0 runs
- 1 walk
- 9 strikeouts
- 91 pitches
- 63 strikes
Harvey now has a 2.33 ERA and 270/58 K/BB ratio in 244 career innings. And he looked as ruggedly handsome as ever, too.