Baseball Daily Dose: Dose: Bad News for Harvey
Murphy’s Law is the principle that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Maybe we should start calling it Harvey’s law.
Drew Silva sounded the alarm in Thursday’s Dose, warning us that Matt Harvey could be dealing with something more significant than your run-of-the-mill shoulder injury. Allow me to expand on that panic. In the lexicon of major league starting pitchers, the only phrase more terrifying than Tommy John surgery (gasp) is thoracic outlet syndrome. Tommy John surgery is still a major obstacle—the recovery can last anywhere from 12-15 months—but most pitchers never look the same once their diagnosed with TOS. Which is why Mets fans were waiting on pins and needles to hear what TOS specialist Dr. Robert Thompson had to say about Harvey’s condition. Spoiler: it wasn’t good news.
Harvey, who has already undergone Tommy John surgery, must now contend with the dreaded thoracic outlet syndrome. After his diagnosis, the right-hander was presented with two options. Mets fans aren’t going to like either one. The first is surgery, which would surely knock Harvey out for the remainder of the 2016 campaign and possibly part of next season as well. The second option is a nerve-blocking injection, which, in reality, would only delay Harvey’s inevitable surgery. So either way he’s going under the knife.
Harvey hasn’t been right all year and maybe this explains why. The Connecticut native actually put together a decent June (2.83 ERA in five starts), but the wheels fell off again Monday versus Washington. He lasted just 3 2/3 innings and told manager Terry Collins after the game that his arm and shoulder both felt “dead.” Harvey also lost all feeling in his fingertips.
For a point of reference, Twins starter Phil Hughes underwent season-ending surgery on Wednesday after being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome earlier this year. To alleviate some of his symptoms, Minnesota-based doctor Howard Saylor removed one of Hughes’ ribs. Hughes is hoping to be back for the start of next season but only time will tell if that’s a realistic expectation.
Thoracic outlet has been the kiss of death for aging pitchers like Josh Beckett, Shaun Marcum and Chris Carpenter. All of them were diagnosed late in their careers and never fully recovered. Harvey is still relatively young at 27, but GM Sandy Alderson is trying to keep things in perspective.
“Any time that you introduce a significant surgery of this type, I think you have to be cautious about what will happen,” said Alderson. “But, at the same time, I fully expect that Matt will be back and ready to go in 2017.” Translation: who the heck knows?
Though it’s up for debate whether Harvey actually helped or hurt the Mets this year, the team still needs to fill out its starting rotation. The hope was that Zack Wheeler would be available early on in the second half but he’s encountered several setbacks in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. Long reliever Logan Verrett will draw the start Saturday against Washington but he’s more of a placeholder than a long-term solution. Suddenly the Mets’ starting rotation, once touted as the deepest in baseball, appears somewhat vulnerable.
Jon Morosi of Fox Sports suggested the team take a hard look at Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz. The 31-year-old has two All-Star appearances to his name but he’s had an erratic year, going 3-9 with a 5.91 ERA over 18 appearances (13 starts). Boston can be an unforgiving city to play in. Slumps tend to snowball under the bright lights and sometimes the only solution is a change of scenery. Buchholz is a big name but because of his struggles this year, the Mets could probably land him for relatively cheap. The Mets don’t seem to be willing to trade off major assets (top SS prospect Amed Rosario is reportedly unavailable), so that might work perfectly.
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Sox Swing Deal for Aaron Hill
Speaking of the Red Sox, they made a splash Thursday by acquiring 2B/3B Aaron Hill from the Brewers in exchange for minor league RHP Aaron Wilkerson and 2B Wendell Rijo. The Red Sox are also getting cash to cover part of Hill’s salary.
Though the Red Sox didn’t give up any really valuable assets—top prospects Andrew Benintendi, Yoan Moncada and Rafael Devers remain untouched—the trade still feels a little misguided. Boston’s infield is already loaded with talent. Besides that, Boston’s real need was pitching, which they will surely address before the August 1 trade deadline.
He may not fill a specific need for the Sox, but Hill is still a good player to have. He’s hit .283 this year with eight homers, 29 RBI and four steals. That’s solid production for a 34-year-old infielder. Hill’s versatility also gives manager John Farrell an interesting piece to play around with when he’s filling out the lineup card.
My hunch is that Hill, a right-handed hitter, will see most of his playing time at third base against left-handed pitchers. Travis Shaw has hit only .211 against lefties this year, so a platoon with Hill at the hot corner makes sense. Hill can also play second base in a pinch should Dustin Pedroia ever need a day off. While the trade may not have been strictly necessary, adding a player of Hill’s caliber (one-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger) can only help as the Red Sox aim to take down the Orioles and Blue Jays in the ultra-competitive AL East.
The Red Sox might survive the regular season on the strength of their high-powered offense but in a five or seven-game playoff series, the starting rotation will have to pull its weight. Even after spending $217 million on David Price this offseason and somehow coaxing a dominant first half out of Steven Wright, Boston’s rotation still owns the league’s ninth-highest ERA at 4.82.
The Red Sox are certainly doing their homework on the pitching front. They’ve brought scouts to each of Rich Hill’s last two starts, which is ironic since he pitched for the Red Sox last year. The 36-year-old is on his seventh different team but he’s still plugging away. In 13 starts for the A’s this year, he’s gone 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA and a ridiculous 10.66 K/9. The small market A’s will probably be sellers at the deadline and have traded with Boston in the past, including two years ago when the Sox swapped Jon Lester for Yoenis Cespedes.
The Red Sox have also checked in on Phillies right-hander Jeremy Hellickson. The former AL Rookie of the Year isn’t a game-changer but he’s an above average starter who can eat up innings. With Hellickson likely to leave in free agency this offseason, the Phillies just want a parting gift before he goes. For the Red Sox, Hellickson would certainly be an upgrade on current fifth starter Sean O’Sullivan.
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AL Quick Hits: Thursday was tough night for Chi Chi Gonzalez. He threw 124 pitches but only made it through 4 2/3 innings. That’s the most pitches thrown by a Ranger without going five innings since 1988 … We’ve seen an unprecedented number of position player pitch this year. Rangers outfielder Jared Hoying added his name to that list by pitching the ninth inning Thursday versus Minnesota. The one run he allowed came on a solo home run by Kennys Vargas … Coco Crisp was ejected from Thursday’s game against Houston for tossing a bat in the direction of home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn after a fifth-inning strikeout. He could be hearing from the league office soon … Chris Young has been dropped from the Royals’ starting rotation. Either Brian Flynn or Dillon Gee will take his spot Sunday against Seattle … Mike Trout didn’t record a hit in Thursday’s win over the Rays, but he did steal home for the first time in his career. Trout has 15 steals this year, which is already four more than he had all of last season.
NL Quick Hits: Top prospect Tyler Glasnow finally made his big league debut on Thursday. The Pirates right-hander surrendered three hits, four runs and two walks over 5 1/3 innings in a loss to St. Louis … Thursday marked Hyun-Jin Ryu’s first big league start in 21 months. It didn’t go very well as the Padres lit Ryu up for six runs in only 4 2/3 innings … Matt Carpenter (strained oblique) was placed on the disabled list Thursday. Teammate Aledmys Diaz will replace Carpenter in next week’s All-Star Game at Petco Park. Diaz is the first Cardinals rookie to make the All-Star team since Albert Pujols in 2001 … Agent Scott Boras was furious that the Brewers sent his client Zach Davies down to Triple-A because he wasn’t scheduled to pitch again before the All-Star break. “It’s disrespect for someone who will be a principal part of the organization for years to come, to add a bench player for 10 days,” said Boras. “In this game, teams do not send down starting pitchers who are performing well” … When asked about Ryan Zimmerman’s absence Thursday against the Mets, Nationals manager Dusty Baker said he was out with a “sore something.” Well that sure narrows it down … Lucas Giolito’s second big league start was one he’d probably like to forget. He gave up seven hits and four runs over 3 2/3 innings in a no-decision … Nats reliever Oliver Perez went 2-for-2 on Thursday night. Before Thursday, he hadn’t recorded a hit in six years … Daniel Murphy rounded the bases for his 15th home run Thursday against the Mets. That’s a career-high and the Nationals still have 75 games left … Jose Reyes belted his first home run of the season Thursday in a win over Washington. It was his first round-tripper since August 28 of last season and his first home run as a Met since September 27, 2011 … Carlos Gonzalez denied a report that he wants to be traded. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported that Gonzalez met with team officials about a possible trade but Rockies GM Jeff Bridrich said no such meeting took place … Trevor Story clocked two homers Thursday, giving him 21 for the season. That ties the National League record for the most home runs by a rookie in the first half … Dexter Fowler (hamstring) will begin a rehab assignment with Low-A South Bend on Friday. He’s not going to play against the Pirates this weekend but Fowler is still holding out hope that he’ll be available for Tuesday night’s All-Star Game in San Diego … Here’s the bracket for this year’s Home Run Derby. Which matchup are you most excited for? I’m all-in for the 4/5 matchup between Robinson Cano and Giancarlo Stanton.
