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Mets News: Matt Harvey Opts For Shoulder Surgery

By Kenneth Teape

Jul 4, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey (33) pitches against the Miami Marlins during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 4, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey (33) pitches against the Miami Marlins during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports /
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New York Mets news was as bad as it could get Friday, as it was announced that starting pitcher Matt Harvey will undergo shoulder surgery.

New York Mets news was not good on Friday, as their worst fears about Matt Harvey came to fruition. It was announced that Harvey will undergo surgery on his ailing right shoulder to address thoracic outlet syndrome that he is suffering from. The surgery is season-ending, but the Mets are hopeful that Harvey will return to form for the 2017 and be fully healthy.

ESPN’s Adam Rubin was the first to break the news according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.

Harvey is set to undergo surgery with Dr. Robert Thompson sometime next week in St. Louis. According to Rubin, Harvey’s issue involves muscles in the neck and shoulder impinging a nerve in his right shoulder. Thompson will remove one of Harvey’s ribs to provide space, which should reduce the compression on the affected nerve and restore feeling in his pitching arm and fingers.

Harvey’s agent, Scott Boras, also gave some insight to Harvey’s decision. Boras said that Harvey could have a nerve blocking injection, but they decided that was not the right course of action. That would have only provided short-term relief for Harvey, which was not what he was looking for.

“The doctors clearly recommended that he have this done, mainly so that he can be ready for ’17,” Boras said. “The rehab on this is six months. Now, if there was a small window of a season, you might be able to take a shot. It’s actually Botox, which relaxes the muscles. That’s not a long-term solution. The only way this is going to be treated appropriately — and obviously we don’t want to do anything to affect next year — is to get this surgically taken care of.”

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The shoulder issues is what Boras points out as the reasoning behind Harvey’s struggles this season, as he was struggling to find the zone consistently. Without feeling in his arm and fingers, Harvey was unable to locate as he has previously in his career, which produced some ugly statistics.

It has been a tumultuous season for Harvey, who started behind the eight-ball right away. After the Mets made it to the World Series last season, they scaled back on most of their starting pitcher’s Spring Training.

As a result, they started later as the Mets attempted to limit their workload. That has seemed to do the trick for other players, but Harvey saw his schedule further disrupted when he was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection that caused a blood clot in his bladder.

That is probably part of the reason that Harvey has struggled as much as he has this season. Harvey has pitched to an unsightly 4-10 record with an 4.86 ERA and 1.47 WHIP, allowing opponents to hit .302 against him on the season.

With Harvey now definitely sidelined for the season, the Mets could look outside the organization for some help in the rotation. For now, Logan Verrett will take over in the rotation for Harvey, starting Saturday against the Washington Nationals.

After that, it is anyone’s guess what happens. Zack Wheeler is behind where the Mets had hoped he would be for rehab, and isn’t expected to join the rotation until August. The Mets may not be able to afford to wait that long, and we could see them get into the market for starting pitching help in the coming weeks heading into the MLB Trade Deadline.

Next: 7 Options To Fix New York Mets' Third Base Situation?

Seeing the Mets seek starting pitching help is not something anyone would have guessed would happen during Spring Training, when the Mets looked like they had too much. But, as the old adage goes, you can never have enough pitching, and the Mets are learning that now.

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