The New York Mets bright future got a little dimmer Monday when it was announced that ace starting pitcher Matt Harvey is headed to the disabled list with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament.
ESPN's Adam Rubin tweeted the following:
Got confirmation: Parial UCL tear in elbow for Harvey. Headed to DL. #mets
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) August 26, 2013
Harvey, who started the All-Star game for the Mets at Citi Field in July in just his first full Major League season, has been enjoying a very successful campaign, recording a 9-5 record and a 2.27 ERA with 191 strikeouts through 26 games. Harvey's ERA ranks second in the league behind Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, and his strikeout total is tops in the National League.
The Mets revealed that Harvey underwent an MRI on Monday that showed the partially torn UCL, and while Tommy John surgery is usually an option as a result of this type of an injury, CBS Sports reports that the Mets will have Harvey rest and see if his swelling goes down before a decision on the operation is made.
Harvey discussed the injury in an interview Monday. A video of the interview, courtesy of MLB.com, can be seen below:
Harvey told Rubin that he had been dealing with forearm tightness for the past month or two but didn't think it was that serious.
"Obviously it was the last thing I was kind of expecting when I went in this morning. I haven't had shooting pain ... at all," Harvey said per Rubin.
Harvey, 24, will most likely miss the rest of the season for New York and had a 200-innings cap in place for the year. Harvey has pitched 178.1 innings so far but his last outing against Detroit in a losing effort for the Mets will probably be the last memory of Harvey's otherwise stellar 2013 campaign. Harvey surrendered a career-high 13 hits to the slugging Detroit Tigers Saturday, and after the game said he was battling discomfort and fatigue.
Harvey was the shining star of the future for the Mets this season, which otherwise has been a fairly forgetful one. The Mets enter play Monday in fourth place in the National League East, 19 games behind the division-leading Atlanta Braves and 14.5 games out of the second wildcard spot.
Still, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson is trying to find the bright side in the fact that Harvey won't lose his career over this.
"This is not a career-ending injury under any stretch of the imagination....We're fortunate we have a lot of pitching depth in our organization," Alderson told Rubin.
Do you think without Matt Harvey the 2013 Mets become a lot less interesting to watch?
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