Matt Harvey To Be Re-examined This Week

By Danny Abriano
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UPDATE, 11:35 AM:

In an appearance with Jim Duquette on Sirius/XM radio, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson stated that Matt Harvey’s exam this week will be a second opinion conducted by noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews.

Alderson also noted that the decision regarding surgery should come by the third week of this month.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

According to Mets manager Terry Collins, Matt Harvey (partially torn UCL) will be re-examined this week.

Aug 26, 2013; New York, NY, USA; New York Mets injured starting pitcher Matt Harvey (33) looks on from the dugout during the eighth inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. The Phillies defeated the Mets 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Harvey, whose injury was announced 13 days ago, is still in a state of limbo.  As has been reported since news of the injury broke, a determination regarding potential surgery was to wait until the swelling in Harvey’s elbow went down – enabling doctors to find out what the exact percentage of the tear in his UCL is.

Now that nearly two weeks have passed, doctors may be able to tell as soon as Harvey’s next exam what the extent of the damage to his UCL is.  If the UCL is less than 33 percent torn, the recommendation may very well be for rehab and PRP (platelet rich plasma) therapy.

There are a host of pitchers who have had low grade strains of their UCL (what Harvey has), avoided surgery, and returned to pitch without incident.  One of the most notable is Roy Halladay, who had a similar injury to Harvey eight years ago, opted for rehab, and proceeded to pitch for the next eight seasons.

If the recommendation is for rehab and/or PRP, Harvey should be ready for spring training in February.  If the recommendation is for Tommy John Surgery (and Harvey heeds that recommendation), he would likely miss most, if not all of the 2014 season.

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