Matt Harvey Could Need Season-Ending Surgery

Matt Harvey’s season could be over; he is deciding whether to have surgery on his ailing shoulder.

Harvey has been diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome. He can either have injections to get him through the rest of the season, or have surgery now.

“I do believe that surgery is probably inevitable and more a question of timing than anything else,” Sandy Alderson said., according to ESPN New York. “So obviously to the extent that we’re backed up for a period of time, it begins potentially to encroach on 2017 as well.”

Alderson said recovery time from surgery would be four months.

Harvey finally admitted a problem after his last start on Monday.

“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,'” Terry Collins said on Monday. “Obviously it was happening during the game. He didn’t say anything until after the game.”

Harvey is 4-10 with a 4.86 ERA. This explains the poor performance this season. Hopefully he can gut it out for the rest of the season. But if the injections do not improve his pitching, he should probably opt for the surgery now and come back fresh in 2017. Maybe the dream rotation can finally pitch together then.

UPDATE 7/8

Harvey will indeed have the surgery. His season is over.