Matthew Edward Harvey (born March 27, 1989), nicknamed "the Dark Knight", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, and Baltimore Orioles.

In his major league debut on July 26, 2012, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Harvey set a new club record with 11 strikeouts while earning his first career victory.

Harvey then missed the entire 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery but returned in 2015 as his team won the National League pennant to advance to the World Series.

His career, once promising during his first two seasons, was derailed by ineffectiveness after additional injuries, including thoracic outlet syndrome and a stress fracture in the scapula.

I would walk 5 or 6 but strike out 16 each game, and only allow a few hits.” Harvey also played summer baseball for numerous travel teams across the country, including the South Florida Bandits, the Midland Redskins, and the East Coast Grays.

[15][16][17] Harvey was a key component of the Anglers’ 2008 bullpen, completing the season with a 0.83 ERA, the lowest on the team, pitching 21+2⁄3 innings and striking out 29 of 92 batters faced.

As Harvey explains, he had lost some of the mechanics and flexibility that had made him such a great pitcher throughout high school and the beginning of his college career.

According to his pitching coach at UNC, Scott Forbes, Harvey returned from the 2009 Cape Cod League season with "a more professional approach.

"[citation needed] Harvey was selected as the seventh overall pick by the New York Mets in the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

His strong pitching, plus injuries to major leaguers Mike Pelfrey and Dillon Gee, put him in contention for the fifth spot in the Mets rotation.

[28] After an injury to staff ace Johan Santana and replacements to the Mets' major-league rotation failed to turn in quality starts, general manager Sandy Alderson and Mets manager Terry Collins backtracked and decided to promote Harvey to the majors, ending his stay with the Bisons with a 7–5 record and 3.68 ERA.

"In his second major-league start, Harvey pitched six innings against the San Francisco Giants, gave up two earned runs, three walks and struck out seven in his first loss.

New York sports radio host Mike Francesa has compared Harvey to standouts like Justin Verlander, Andy Pettitte and Curt Schilling.

On May 7, while pitching with a severe nosebleed Harvey retired the first 20 Chicago White Sox batters he faced until Alex Ríos broke up the perfect game with an infield single.

"[38] On June 18, Harvey took another no-hitter into the seventh inning, but was stymied by an infield single off the bat of the Atlanta Braves' Jason Heyward.

[39] As the mid-season All-Star break approached, team management talked about limiting Harvey's innings to ensure his pitching health.

[40][41] Harvey was the starting pitcher for the 2013 MLB All-Star Game, which took place at the Mets' home ballpark, Citi Field in which he pitched the first two innings.

[42] On August 7, Harvey pitched his first career complete game shutout, giving up four hits and striking out six in a 5–0 win over the Colorado Rockies.

It was later announced that Harvey had finished tied for 4th in the Cy Young Award, losing to Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

[47] On October 22, 2013, Harvey underwent successful Tommy John surgery to replace the partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

[53] Without Harvey for the 2014 season, the Mets finished with a record of 79–83 (second in the NL East), with the pitching staff boasting a combined ERA of 3.49, good for 6th in the National League.

[59][60] Harvey initially appeared to agree with Boras,[59] in contrast with his cultivated image of toughness and desire to compete and win at all costs, including having previously objected to efforts by the Mets to both proceed cautiously in his recovery with respect to the timetable for his return (in 2014 Harvey expressed a desire to come back from the injury early, while the Mets followed a conventional recovery timetable[61]), and curtail his innings in 2015 by employing a six-man rotation.

He started Game 1 of the 2015 World Series against the Kansas City Royals, giving up 3 earned runs through 6 innings in a no-decision.

"[66] He then allowed a leadoff walk to Lorenzo Cain before Eric Hosmer hit a double that scored a run and led to Collins putting in Familia.

During his first start on Opening Day against the reigning World Series champions, the Kansas City Royals, he allowed 4 runs (3 earned) and did not seem his typical self - striking out few batters and surrendering a large number of hits.

Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen said early in the season that Harvey had been struggling with a mechanical problem with his slider during his first three starts.

"[94] On September 12, Harvey was placed on the 60-day injured list due to a right knee ailment, ending his 2021 season with a 6–14 record and 6.27 ERA with 95 strikeouts in 28 starts.

[97] He made 13 starts split between the High-A Aberdeen IronBirds, Double-A Bowie Baysox, and Triple-A Norfolk Tides, registering an 8-1 record and 3.71 ERA with 63 strikeouts in 70+1⁄3 innings pitched.

[107] In March 2017, Harvey was spotted kissing Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima at the River Yacht Club in Miami, Florida.

[105][111] Harvey had "Dark Knight" carved into the knobs of his bats to begin the 2015 season before replacing it with a personalized hybrid Harvey-Batman logo, versions of which had previously appeared on his locker and on T-shirts.