New York Mets right-hander Matt Harvey will reportedly undergo season-ending surgery to address his thoracic outlet syndrome, according to his agent.
ESPN received news from New York Mets right-handed starter Matt Harvey’s agent Scott Boras that his client “will undergo surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome, ending his season.”
Boras believes that Harvey’s health condition has led to his down year in 2016. Harvey’s issues with thoracic outlet syndrome have had more to do with his nerve endings than anything, having had issues gripping the baseball in recent starts and experiencing numbness in his throwing shoulder.
Harvey’s 2016 MLB season ends most disappointingly, as he was 4-10 in 17 starts for the Mets, with a 1.468 WHIP and a 4.86 ERA in 92.2 innings pitched. The former ace of the Mets’ deep pitching staff who once started in the 2013 MLB All-Star Game at Citi Field has easily been usurped by star pitchers like Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. Harvey also missed the entire 2014 MLB season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Losing Harvey for the season is certainly a tough blow for the Mets, but more likely in the long-term than in the short-term. Harvey is now not the reliable ace he was once tabbed as coming out of the University of North Carolina. It’s a gamble to know what he’ll be on future Mets teams going forward.
New York sits three games back of the first-place Washington Nationals in the National League East standings as of July 8th. The Mets are the reigning champions of the National League and frankly have the pitching staff that is strong enough to overcome the season-ending surgery that Harvey will undergo.
The Mets would have liked Harvey to have built on his solid 2015 campaign where he helped New York get to the World Series for the first time since 2000. However, it is in his best interest and the Mets to have him have corrective surgery to see if he can’t get back to good in time for Opening Day 2017.
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