UNC Baseball: Matt Harvey transitions to bullpen role

After struggling in the Kansas City Royals starting rotation, the former UNC baseball ace will attempt to revive his career in the bullpen.

In late July, the Kansas City Royals signed Matt Harvey in hopes that they could help revitalize his career. The organization figured that if the 31-year-old former ace could get back on track, he could provide them with a boost within their starting rotation.

However, “The Dark Knight” has not returned.

Through three starts, the former veteran has struggled mightily. The right-hander has allowed 12 earned runs over 7.2 innings of work, and allowed five home runs over that span.

His latest outing was his worst as a Royal so far. On September 1, Harvey recorded just four outs, as he allowed five runs on seven hits (three of which were long balls) in the team’s eventual 10-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

Below, you can see Harvey’s numbers through his first three outings. Needless to say, things haven’t gone as planned for the former Tar Heel:

If you’re looking at the recent history, you could say that Harvey’s big league career could be in jeopardy. However, it doesn’t seem like the Royals are ready to give up on him just yet.

Just two days after his latest rough start, Harvey made an appearance out of the bullpen. During the outing, Harvey retired two of the four batters he faced and did not allow a run. It only took the right-hander 12 pitches to finish off the inning.

Matt Harvey out of the bullpen? Maybe this role makes more sense for him at this point. First off, his fastball velocity has been rather impressive. It’s not the 97-plus speed that we saw when he was with the Mets, but he’s been hitting 94 and 95 MPH consistently. His velocity tends to dip a bit as he gets higher in pitch count, but that’s expected.

Additionally, in a bullpen role, Harvey would be called on to pitch shorter outings, most likely one or two innings at a time. This would allow him to unleash a little bit more than he normally would in the starting rotation.

Not all starting pitchers can properly transition to a bullpen role, but it will be interesting to see if Harvey can. No one expects him to be the dominant starting pitcher he once was, but he definitely has the repertoire to be an effective big league reliever at this stage of his career.

Continue to follow the Keeping It Heel team as we provide you with the latest news and updates regarding Matt Harvey and all of your favorite Tar Heel alumni in the pros.