Matt Harvey will make his second start of the spring today against the Marlins in Jupiter.
Harvey is expected to throw around 50 pitches during today’s start.
It will be the second time Harvey has faced an opposing team since undergoing Tommy John Surgery in October, 2013.
In a report for Newsday, Marc Carig spoke with Sandy Alderson, who said the club performed a study of pitchers who have undergone Tommy John Surgery and missed various lengths of time during the process.
Carig writes the Mets had performed research of seven or eight comparable cases to Harvey, none of which were exact to his case.
Still, Alderson told Carig he is confident the 16 month layoff Harvey has had since the procedure will help support a higher than usual workload for those recovering.
“We had hoped with the amount of time that he was off, he would be able to handle a decent amount of work,” general manager Sandy Alderson said. “I think most of the research that we did supports that conclusion.”
Despite the conclusion, Alderson remains cautious.
“It’s not science,” Alderson warned.
“We’ve looked back on that both in terms of quantity and volume of work as well as what’s reasonable to expect [in performance] his first year back,” Alderson continued. “I think we were encouraged by the amount of innings that some of these guys were able to pitch.”
Look, we will just have to see. In listening to Alderson talk about this subject over the last year or so, it’s clear they have Harvey’s best interests in mind, both in the context of the team and the player’s career. There’s no telling if or when Harvey will have a reoccurrence – all he, the team, his agent, and the doctors can do is provide a program based on past history, ensure he is doing what he needs to do to condition his arm and body, and hope for the best.
I admit with seemingly every pitch Harvey throws, be it in the bullpen, batting practice or these games, the thought of reoccurrence is in the back of my mind. I’m sure the club is concerned as well. While the procedure is mostly successful the first time, there have been quite a number of cases pitchers have reinjured the arm. But, they cannot operate out of fear – all they can do is trust their research and follow the program.
For more, check out Carig’s excellent report for Newsday.
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