Matt Harvey will undergo season-ending surgery to repair neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome in his right shoulder, the pitcher’s agent, Scott Boras, confirmed Friday.
The surgery will take place “probably in a week or so,” Boras said, and will be performed by Dr. Robert Thompson, whom Harvey visited Thursday in St. Louis for the diagnosis.
Harvey finished the season with a 4-10 record and 4.86 ERA, and Boras said those extremely disappointing numbers can be attributed to this condition that plagued him all season.
“I’m extremely disappointed to learn that I’ll be out for the season, but I’m relieved to have answers and get back to doing what I love,” Harvey wrote on Twitter later Friday. “I hope you understand if I stay out of touch and stick to the business of getting healthy. I know how strong and determined my teammates are, and I will stand behind them for the rest of the season!”
That season figures to be more challenging for the Mets without the right-hander, who Boras said has been dealing with symptoms for the entire season.
“Matt has felt this since spring training,” Boras said. “He couldn’t figure out why his mechanics were off. He finally had a more pronounced feeling last week, and that gave him more of an inclination what was going on.
“I think the one thing Matt has complained of is the consistency of his command. That has to do with arm slot and the release point of the ball.”
The TOS can cause a lot of damage, Boras said.
Asked whether Harvey’s much-discussed 2015 workload could have contributed to this condition, Boras said: “Obviously, Matt is medically different in ’16 than in ’15, I can’t draw any conclusions any other than that.”
Mets manager Terry Collins expressed no regret about how Harvey was handled in the aftermath of Tommy John surgery.
“I have yet to have a doctor ever tell me, ‘Look, here’s what you need to do to save your pitchers from having TOS,’ ” Collins said. “And I’ve been around the greatest orthopedic surgeons in the world. Not one time have I ever heard a suggestion of how to keep your pitchers from having that. So I would have to say, no, they’re going to go pitch and we’ll just monitor the workload and hopefully we won’t have to go through too many of these.’’
Boras expressed confidence Harvey can become an excellent pitcher once again. While the list of pitchers who have returned from this procedure does not provide much inspiration, Boras noted client Kenny Rogers, who spent time with the Yankees and Mets, performed well post-op. Rogers underwent the surgery in July 2001 and proceeded to make the All-Star Game from 2004 through 2006.
“The key is Matt Harvey’s velocity is fine. His body is fine,” Boras said. “This really is just more about him getting the consistency with an arm slot and him having sensation in his fingers. The doctor is very positive about the outcome.”
So is Harvey, according to the manager.
“He’s optimistic,” Collins said. “He’s disappointed. He didn’t make any excuses for anything. He didn’t say, ‘Well, jeez this was the reason I had a bad [season].’ He didn’t, which is Matt Harvey. He’s never going to say that. He just said ‘I’m disappointed the way I pitch and I hope this cures me and we get back on track.’ ’’