Despite the innings-limit drama throughout the season, Matt Harvey has been named the National League’s Comeback Player of the Year.
Prince Fielder won the award in the American League.
Harvey missed the entire 2014 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October 2013.
The righthander went 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA, 1.019 WHIP and 188 strikeouts in 189 1/3 innings during the regular season. Harvey, 26, helped lead the Mets to their first World Series appearance since 2000.
In four postseason starts, he went 2-0 with a 3.04 ERA, 1.088 WHIP and 27 strikeouts over 26 2/3 innings. Harvey’s final start in Game 5 of the World Series was one of the best postseason pitching performances in recent history. With the Mets up 2-0 in the game but trailing 3-1 in the series, he pitched eight shutout innings and was seemingly done but argued his way back out to the mound in a decision that will haunt Terry Collins. Harvey walked Lorenzo Cain and gave up a run-scoring double to Eric Hosmer before getting yanked in favor of Jeurys Familia, who allowed the tying run to score (charged to Harvey).
Fielder, who missed most of the 2014 season after undergoing neck surgery, rebounded with a big year in just his second season with the Texas Rangers. Fielder hit .305 with 23 home runs, 98 RBIs and 78 runs. Most surprisingly, the previously durable first baseman managed to play in 158 games. Before the 2014 season, he had missed just one game since 2008.
