Met’s Matt Harvey Elects To Have Season-Ending Surgery

The days just got a bit dimmer for the Dark Knight.

New York Mets right-hander Matt Harvey has decided to have surgery to address the thoracic outlet syndrome that appeared in his pitching shoulder this week, ending his 2016 season, according to his agent Scott Boras.

Thoracic outlet syndrome is a condition whereby symptoms are produced from compression of nerves or blood vessels, or both, because of an inadequate passageway through an area (thoracic outlet) between the base of the neck and the armpit, according to medicinenet.com.

The worst was expected for Harvey after the Mets announced Wednesday he would be headed back to the disabled list after an MRI revealed TOS in the shoulder. Harvey and team doctors did reportedly explore non-surgical options, such as nerve-blocking injections, but the Mets starter determined the injections would only be a temporary solution.

Harvey is expected to be completely healthy for the outset of the 2017 season, Boras told ESPN.

“The doctor’s recommended he have this done, mainly so he can be ready for ’17. The rehab on this is six months,” Boras said. “Now, if there was a small window in the season, you may be able to take a shot.”

“It’s actually Botox, which relaxes the muscles,” Boras said of the nerve-blocking injections, dispelling them as a viable option. “It’s not a long-term solution.”

Harvey finishes the season with a career-worst, 4.86 ERA to go with a 4-10 record in 2016.

He struggled through his first eight starts, having his ERA swell near 10, but Mets Manager Terry Collins elected to keep Harvey in the rotation, despite some discussion about sending him down to the minors to work out the kinks.

At that time, there was no concern about injury, with Harvey himself saying he was “100 percent healthy.”

“I’m not sure he was talked much about health,” Collins said before last night’s 9-7 win over the Washington Nationals. “I think he, you know, we were all talking of mechanical things and the other night was the first time I’ve heard anything about health.”

New York will turn to Logan Verrett to pick up the slack in the starting rotation.

Verrett, also a right-hander, has appeared in 23 games thus far this season, with five starts, a 3-5 record and a 4.01 ERA.

“My understanding is that, right now, it’s more of a neurological issue,” Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson said Thursday. “Simply doing a block, a nerve block, doesn’t, to me at least, sound like a permanent solution.”

Article by Kevin Xavier