Matt Harvey: I Want to Pitch in 2014

Matt Harvey says if it were up to him, he would pitch again in 2014. I say if he is ready, why not?

Speaking to reporters Thursday night at the Boston Baseball Writers Dinner where the Connecticut native picked up the New England Player of the Year award, Harvey said his rehab from Tommy John surgery is going perfectly.

“It’s great. I think I’m just over three months out, and I can’t believe it’s gone by so fast,” said Harvey. “Everything is going well. I haven’t had the slightest setback. I’m itching to get back out and pick up a baseball again. Whatever the doc says, I’ve got to follow those rules.”

The rules say it takes a year to recover from the surgery. But always the fierce competitor, Matt Harvey thinks he can recover faster.

“When you see stories of guys coming back in 10 months, I’m going to think, ‘Hey, I can come back in nine,'” Harvey told The Wall Street Journal.. “Unfortunately, I don’t make those decisions. I can’t throw the uniform on and go back on the mound without the permission of higher-ups.”

The Mets have made it clear that Matt Harvey will not take the mound in 2014, that the first time we will see him in a Mets uniform is Spring Training 2015.

Obviously there is no way the Mets should rush him, even in the unlikely event that they find themselves in a pennant race, but if Harvey’s rehab is done in September and the doctors say he is ready to go, why not let him pitch?

Every pitcher is different; it might take a year for some to recover, but it might take less time for others. Billy Wagner, for example, had the surgery in September 2008 and came back to pitch in August 2009. 

Who’s to say Harvey need a full year to recover? The point is moot because there is no way the cautious Mets will ever let Matt Harvey see a pitcher’s mound in 2014. Like every team, the Mets baby their pitchers. They babied Harvey and he got hurt, anyway. Clearly, something is not working.