Former Mets ace Matt Harvey may not be far from a return to the major leagues, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com writes. Now with the Royals, Harvey will throw an intrasquad game Thursday, after which the club will evaluate whether it should promote him to the bigs. General manager Dayton Moore has been encouraged by what he has seen from Harvey, whom the Royals signed to a minor league contract in late July.
“He’s throwing well,” Moore said (via Flanagan). “And he’s a guy who can serve a variety of roles for us. He can be a starter, he can be a long man, he might even be able to help us in the back of the bullpen. We’ll see.”
Harvey peaked with the Mets from 2012-15, a period in which he gave the club front-line production, but the Dark Knight also missed a full season (2014) because of Tommy John surgery. While Harvey bounced back brilliantly from that procedure, he hasn’t been able to rebound from the thoracic outlet syndrome surgery he underwent in 2016. For the most part, Harvey struggled mightily with the Mets, Reds and Angels over the previous three seasons. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since July 7, 2019, as a member of the Angels, and he finished last season on a minors pact with the Athletics.
Although his career has fallen off a cliff, there was no real harm in taking a low-cost chance on Harvey from the rebuilding Royals’ standpoint. If he ever does don their uniform, it’ll be intriguing to see how the 31-year-old fares.
Hopefully There’s Not Too Much Night Life In KC …. HIs Problem Here was he was MORE INTERESTED IN BEING A CELEBRITY Than Pitching …..
So stupid
Yes, yes he was.
his problem was that he lost the ability to pitch
Yep thoracic outlet syndrome in 2016 definitely had no effect on him.
Injuries derailed his career. Most pitchers are recovering from Tommy John but I have yet to see one that has been able to become half of what they were after Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. It’s the kiss of the death for pretty much all pitchers who have it.
Is there much night life anywhere right now?
Enough for the Cardinals, and Marlins lose like half their roster to COVID, and for Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac to also catch it.
Yeah. There is that.
To be clear, Plesac and Clevinger haven’t caught COVID that we’re aware of..
They caught a case of “night fever”. The cure of “suspension” is being applied as we speak.
“Because we didn’t die, it must have been a good idea”
That’s your logic Ted
no his logic is “they havent been reported to have it so we cant assume they do”
Clevinger and Plesac were sent home because they didn’t follow protocols so they’re isolating (and it is also punishment). There has been no announcement that they have contracted the virus.
Bruce Wayne must keep up his bachelor ways.
I’m not defending Harvey’s attitude and ego, but the idea that it has anything to do with the trajectory of his career post-2015 is ridiculous (though it admittedly doesn’t make him the most sympathetic figure)
He wasn’t more interested in being a celebrity… the NY media built him up and then tore him down… sure he made a couple mistakes, but this idea of him as a ne’er-do-well is fabricated.
And a Yankee
dream on, moore!
Hate to nitpick, but Plesac and Clevinger do not have it, yet, they are being quarantined in case they do get it.
Correcting a poor choice of words or egregious hyperbole is not nitpicking.
I really think if his arm is built up,he can produce as a closer or bridge to the closer.
But his arm is wrecked by those two surgeries.
That TJ never fully healed before the TOS.
It’s too bad. He was electric,not as big on the national level,but close to Mark Fydrich.
Still wanted to see him in the KBO! Maybe next year
Always gotta pad the article with another two paragraphs of Harvey’s past success.
I get the need for background but since I read almost every article it’s just slightly amusing because it has become almost a canned part that gets copy pasted into every Harvey article. Maybe there is a Matt Harvey macro for traderumors
TOS surgery seems to be a death sentence for pitchers. Are there any pitchers who had this surgery who have returned to form after it? A fair amount have come back from it but they all seem to be much worse after the fact. TJS recoveries are much more successful. Poor guy, he was so good before his arm broke down; I hope he can be at least serviceable for KC.
Only one who comes to mind is Foltynewicz. He had TOS surgery in 2015 and was better every year after it than he was before… except 2020 of course
Folty’s ERAs since 2015 are 4.31, 4.79, 2.85, 4.54, 16.20. Yikes, that might actually be the best example. I thought Carpenter came back better but it was pretty close to the end of his career too.
His problem was booger sugar from what I’ve heard
One of those guys that showed a couple years of being really good but has been terrible otherwise. Everyone keeps latching on in hopes that he’ll find that magic again and pay him way too much for that glimpse of hope. I get it’s not a ton of money, but almost any amount for his services is too much in my opinion.
I prefer to think that the Royals broke him in Game 5.
His attitude hasn’t helped his cause either.
The Mets ruined him in 2015.
Was painful to watch here last year. He doesn’t have enough to put guys away. He can get to a 2 strike count but a couple of foul balls later it would be either a walk or, far too often, hard contact.