Mets Disclose That Harvey Has Elbow Tear

Barton Silverman/The New York Times

If Matt Harvey needs Tommy John surgery he will not pitch again until 2015.

More than any other player, Matt Harvey symbolized the tentative notion that the Mets might actually be nearing a renaissance. If the team rose to prominence next season, the thinking went, it would surely be following his bullish lead.

But on Monday, in a jarring turnaround, Harvey instead became the latest example of the team's almost relentless misfortune.

Harvey had a magnetic resonance imaging test to address persistent discomfort in his right forearm, and it showed, to his shock and the Mets' profound dismay, that the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow was partially torn.

Harvey, a 24-year-old flame-throwing right-hander, ascended this season to baseball's loftiest tiers, starting the All-Star Game for the National League, hearing his name mentioned as a Cy Young Award candidate and, on three occasions, coming close to a no-hitter or perfect game. He became a national celebrity, with television appearances and magazine covers and curiosity with just about every facet of his life.

But the discovery of the ligament tear made of all that irrelevant and raised the dire and very real prospect that Harvey will require Tommy John surgery, a procedure that could sideline him for the 2014 season.

"It's unfortunate from Matt's point of view and it's unfortunate from the standpoint of the organization — there's no question about it," General Manager Sandy Alderson said at a Monday afternoon news conference at Citi Field as he delivered the sobering news. "On the other hand, these are the kinds of things that happen in the game. The successful teams, the successful organizations, respond to these setbacks. That's exactly what we intend to do."

Alderson added, "This is not a career-ending injury under any stretch of the imagination."

But whether Harvey will ever again be as dominant as he was for much of this season remains to be seen. And when he will pitch again is not clear, either.

Harvey was not placed on the disabled list Monday, or officially declared out for the reminder of the season, but those almost seemed like technicalities as the Mets, and the pitcher, confronted the main issue before them — whether he might try to avoid surgery and pitch through the partial tear. Tommy John surgery has become an almost inevitable outcome for such tears, and putting off the surgery might only delay his return to full health.

But at least for the moment, the Mets and Harvey will wait. Alderson said that Harvey could have more tests done on his elbow over the next 10 days and that a decision will be made in coming weeks as to what the next course of action should be and whether surgery will be scheduled.

Whatever the ultimate outcome, the announcement of the injury brought Harvey's enchanting season to a dead halt. It also raised uneasy questions about how diligent the Mets had been in addressing his physical issues as the season progressed.

At Monday's news conference, Harvey disclosed that for the last month or two — he was not sure about the time frame — he had felt some tenderness around the forearm muscles of his pitching arm. It was not unusual to him, he said, and he regularly received treatment to address it, always feeling limber enough to pitch.

But the discomfort reached a new level during his outing on Saturday afternoon, when he gave up an uncharacteristically high 13 hits to the Detroit Tigers in a generally flat appearance. After that game, Harvey said, he informed the team's medical staff that the discomfort in his forearm had grown worse and that he wanted to be examined. That led to Monday's M.R.I. and the distressing news for the Mets.

"It was the last thing I was expecting when I went in this morning," Harvey said. "I haven't had shooting pains down my hands or in my elbow at all. It's mostly been forearm tightness. It's something obviously I could pitch through."

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