Hunter savors K's in "dream" showdown with Trout, Ohtani

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Hunter Harvey trotted in from the left field bullpen, and suddenly the decade of injuries and missed opportunities he endured felt worth it.

This was the reason he kept coming back from injury after injury, for a chance to be summoned to pitch in a situation like this: 1-run game, a runner on base, two outs and Mike Trout – one of the best hitters of his generation – at the plate.

“That’s the fun part about being here,” Harvey said. “Trout’s going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Coming into that situation and facing those guys, it’s what you dream of.”

Harvey was able to enjoy the moment even more when he struck out Trout on the sixth pitch of their head-to-head encounter, getting the Angels star with a high, 98 mph fastball. And then he was able to really enjoy the moment after he returned for the bottom of seventh and got through that inning with the Nationals’ lead intact, an inning that began with a three-pitch strikeout of Shohei Ohtani.

“I’ve always been told that good pitching beats good hitting,” Harvey said. “You’ve just got to go right at guys. Can’t give them a chance and can’t fall behind. You’ve just got to attack.”

All four Nationals relievers who contributed to Monday night’s 6-4 win did that in some way. But Harvey did it better than anyone else and did so in one of the biggest moments of his still-burgeoning career.

Harvey should’ve been in a position to do this years ago, as one of the Orioles’ top young pitching prospects. But injury after injury derailed his career in Baltimore and left him needing to start over with the Nats last spring.

He seized that opportunity and pitched well in 38 games, posting a 2.52 ERA and 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings. That earned him a spot in this year’s Opening Day bullpen, and he has continued to reward the Nationals for giving him the opportunity.

Having pitched in six of the team’s 11 games to date, Harvey has allowed one run on three hits, striking out three while walking two. And that’s why the team was not only comfortable using him to face the deadly Trout-Ohtani combo but orchestrated things to try to make sure he could face them.

“Bringing Harvey in to match up with Trout was the key to that whole game right there,” said bench coach Tim Bogar, who filled in as manager for an ill Davey Martinez.

Harvey has become the Nationals’ fireman, the reliever summoned to pitch out of jams no matter the inning. Often, it’s as early as the fifth or sixth, as was the case Saturday night at Colorado when he retired two Rockies batters on five pitches (all strikes) to preserve a 5-2 lead.

Despite the temptation to bring Harvey back for the seventh that night, Martinez opted not to push him, especially knowing his injury history. On Monday, though, the call was simple for Bogar to bring Harvey back for the seventh to face Ohtani and then the rest of the Angels lineup.

“I was wanting to go back out the other night, and they just played it slow,” Harvey said. “But especially with Ohtani coming up, I really wanted to get back out there. He’s one of the biggest names in baseball, so the adrenaline was pumping. It was fun to go out there.”

Harvey blew away the international superstar on three pitches, all fastballs, wowing his teammates and perhaps some in the Angel Stadium crowd who remembered his father, Bryan, recording 126 saves and making an All-Star berth for the franchise in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

“That was pretty special to watch tonight,” closer Kyle Finnegan said. “In the stadium that his dad played in and had so much success, the team that his dad played for, to see him out there having success like that is really cool. He’s been a rock for us since last year, and he’ll continue to do that. Because he’s got great stuff, he’s got a great demeanor. He’s had a long, hard road to get here, so he really appreciates it.”

At 28, Harvey still hasn’t come close to fully establishing himself as a dependable big league reliever. He needs to prove he can stay healthy over long stretches, no matter the workload.

But if he can do that, the Nationals believe they’ve got themselves a stalwart for their bullpen for years to come. One who showed Monday night he isn’t afraid to stare down the best hitters in baseball and go right at them.

“After being hurt for seven years, you kind of get the mentality of: Just screw it. What do you got to lose?” he said. “We’re playing baseball for a living. Show up, just have fun, go out there and you can’t think about anything else.”