Reds' Jim Riggleman on Matt Harvey: 'He’s anxious to help us and re-establish his career'

Cincinnati Reds Interim Manager Jim Riggleman spoke to Matt Harvey, the newest Red, after the game Tuesday night.

“He’s anxious to help us and re-establish his career,” Riggleman said. “I think it’s a good fit.”

Where Harvey fits immediately is still a bit up in the air. Eventually, Harvey will be in the rotation. But he could pitch out of the bullpen a time or two.

“We have not nailed down when he will pitch,” Riggleman said. “He’s throwing significant bullpen sessions, pretty lengthy sessions. I talked to him (Tuesday) evening. He’s tried to extend himself a little bit so no matter where he signed, he’d be able to pitch some length. He’s ready to do whatever we need him to do. We’ll determine that in the next day or two.”



Harvey will meet the Reds Thursday in Los Angeles. They open a four-game series with the Dodgers Thursday night. Harvey will likely pitch in one of the four games.

“I would think he would, in some capacity, pitch against the Dodgers,” Riggleman said. “Whether that’s relieving or starting or whatever, I don’t know yet.”

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Harvey, 29, comes to the Reds with quite a reputation. He’s a Red because he refused a minor league assignment from the New York Mets. That led to the Mets designating him for assignment on Saturday. Tuesday, the Reds traded Devin Mesoraco to the Mets for Harvey.

Riggleman will give Harvey a clean slate.

“Absolutely, yeah,” Riggleman said. “So much can get blown out of proportion. We’ve talked to a lot of people who basically say Matt Harvey is a good guy. Some stuff got exaggerated and so forth. That’s kind of in the past.”

Former Red Jay Bruce echoed that. "He's not a bad guy," Bruce said. "He got caught up in that New York thing."

No one has ever said a player got caught up in the "that Cincinnati thing."

The Reds feel Harvey is worth the risk because of what he can be. He was once one of the top starters in baseball. He finished fourth in the Cy Young voting and started an All-Star Game at 24.

He was 25-19 with a 2.53 ERA after the 2015 season. He is 9-19 with a 5.93 ERA since, including 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA this year.

Harvey will throw for the Reds Thursday – probably just play catch because he threw a 60-pitch bullpen on Monday. That will help determine what they do with him next.

Riggleman has managed 12 years in the big leagues. He could not recall a similar case to Harvey’s that he’s dealt with.



“I might think of something later, but off the top of my head, not really,” Riggleman said. “There’s a lot of guys who have reputations for various things, but they always went out on the field and performed. They weren’t in the news. Stuff that they were maybe involved with was not such an issue. It’s a good thing for him to get away from his original setting there.”

SENZEL ON DL: The Louisville Bats placed top prospect Nick Senzel on the seven-day disabled list with vertigo. Senzel has not played since leaving Thursday’s game after one at-bat.

His season ended last year on Aug. 24 because of a bout with vertigo.

Senzel had started 22 of Louisville’s first 23 games.

CRUZ CONTROL: Tony Cruz didn’t arrive for Tuesday’s game until about 8 p.m. He wasn’t even sure what inning it was.

Cruz took Mesoraco’s spot on the roster.

“I’m excited to be back in the big leagues,” he said. “It’s been awhile.”

Cruz, 31, did not play in the big leagues last year. But he’s played 638 games in the majors, mostly as Yadier Molina’s backup in St. Louis.