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New York Mets News: Matt Harvey To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

By Mark Suleymanov
Published on: 05:41 PST, Jul 8, 2016

New York Mets ace Matt Harvey has elected to undergo season-ending surgery due to thoracic outlet syndrome in his right shoulder, agent Scott Boras told ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin.

Harvey went on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday after complaining about a “dead arm” following his last start on Monday. “The Dark Knight” lasted just three-and-two-thirds innings while surrendering 11 hits and six runs (five earned) against the Miami Marlins.

“He came in the training room afterward and said, ‘My shoulder is dead. My arm is dead. There’s no energy there. I couldn’t feel the ball,'” manager Terry Collins said. “Obviously it was happening during the game. He didn’t say anything until after the game.”

The 27-year-old struggled mightily this season, pitching a 4-10 record with a 4.86 ERA through 92-and-two-thirds innings (17 starts). In his second season following the Tommy John surgery he underwent in 2013, Harvey was trying to bounce back from pitching 216 total innings last year — the most any pitcher has thrown in their first season back from the procedure.

Upon receiving the diagnosis on Thursday, Harvey was presented with two options. He could undergo the surgery — which carries a four-month recovery period — and put himself in a good position to be available in 2017. Or, the former all-star could attempt to delay the surgery with a nerve-blocking injection.

Harvey’s ailment involves a constriction of the opening in which nerves and blood vessels pass between the neck and shoulder, per ESPN. In Harvey’s case, the problem is more nerve-related, general manager Sandy Alderson said.

“Any time that you introduce a significant surgery of this type, I think you have to be cautious about what will happen,” Alderson said. “But, at the same time, I fully expect that Matt will be back and ready to go in 2017.”

Pitchers such as Phil Hughes, Chris Young and Josh Beckett have previously undergone surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. As noted by ESPN Stats & Info, Jaime García, Shaun Marcum and Chris Carpenter — just like Harvey — have endured both Tommy John surgery and a separate procedure to address thoracic outlet syndrome. All three returned to pitch effectively.

Harvey’s injury is the latest in a series of issues with the Mets’ elite-level starting rotation. Noah Syndergaard (bone spur), Steven Matz (bone spur), and Zack Wheeler (Tommy John surgery) are currently coping with injuries. Syndergaard and Matz are hopeful to make it through the season without surgery; Wheeler was set to be back with the team around this time but several setbacks have delayed his return.

Logan Verrett will replace Harvey as a starter on Saturday. Wheeler is not a realistic option to replace Harvey in the immediate future so a trade is a possibility. Jon Morosi of FOX Sports speculated that Boston Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz — recently demoted to the bullpen due to his myriad of struggles — could be a short-term option. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com mentioned Gabriel Ynoa ( 9-3, 3.92 ERA in Triple-A) could be an in-house option.

Sean Gilmartin, a swing-man reliever from last year, is another in-house option to make some starts.

“We’ll take a look at what’s there,” Alderson said about the possibility of a trade. “We’re obviously always comparing what’s out there with what we have. So we’ll just have to see.”

As it stands, the Mets’ rotation — barring injury — will be Syndergaard, Matz, Bartolo Colon, Logan Verrett, and Jacob deGrom.

[Featured Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images]

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