NL Notes: Harvey, Fedde, Pirates

Mets righty Matt Harvey is set to return from the disabled list Friday against the Astros, as Mike Puma of the New York Post notes. Harvey has been out since mid-June with a shoulder injury and hasn’t overwhelmed in his four rehab starts, but the Mets were enthused about his last outing, Puma writes. “When he threw in Double-A last time, the reports weren’t all that glowing,” says pitching coach Dan Warthen. “But [minor league pitching coordinator] Glenn Abbott was raving about this last one. Matt’s delivery was the same every pitch, and everything was coming out cleanly.” Harvey has seen most of his last two seasons derailed by injuries, but he’ll have a chance to salvage something from the 2017 season after pitching to a 5.25 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in 70 1/3 innings before hitting the DL. Here’s more from the National League.

• Nationals righty Erick Fedde threw with less velocity than usual on Sunday, pitching in the 89-91 MPH range after previously throwing around 94, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes. Fedde says he’s “not too worried about” the loss in velocity and attributes it to the approaching end of the season. Fedde, though, is still just under 100 innings for the season between the minors and the Majors after throwing 121 last year. Janes does note that Fedde has lately demonstrated a better-rounded repertoire than he showed in Spring Training, with a slower curveball and changeup to go along with his fastball and slider.
• The Pirates’ rotation hasn’t been overwhelming this season, but they have had good depth they largely haven’t needed, as Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. The Bucs have only used six starters, and one of those, Tyler Glasnow, has a 1.99 ERA with Triple-A Indianapolis and hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since early June. Steven Brault (1.94 ERA, 8.2 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 52.2 GB%) has also fared well at Triple-A, with Drew Hutchison, Clay Holmes and Nick Kingham all also getting fairly good results. “It’s a good lesson in humility and patience,” says Brault. “You have to realize it’s not what you’re doing that’s wrong. Sometimes there’s just not a spot.” The Pirates control the rights to everyone in their current rotation for at least two more seasons beyond this one, so an offseason move or two could be a possibility, with Gerrit Cole perhaps being on the trading block. Kingham will be out of options next season, making his name one to watch as well. Of course, rotation depth charts have a way of changing quickly.