MLB

Harvey, Mets refuse to concede Tommy John surgery inevitable

PITCHER TO PITCHER: Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay (above) talked with injured right-hander Matt Harvey before Tuesday’s game at Citi Field at the request of Mets manager Terry Collins. (AP)

Matt Harvey has already received at least one second opinion about a possible course of action regarding his torn ulnar collateral ligament diagnosed on Monday, and it came from a Doc, though not an M.D.

Now we know from where the sense of optimism was generated that prompted the Mets ace to take to his @MattHarvey33 Twitter account on Tuesday and post: “Thank you everyone for the kind words and support. I may be done this year, but I will be back next year for April 1.”

It came from a conversation with Roy “Doc” Halladay, the Phillies pitcher who avoided surgery when he had a forearm muscle issue both early and then again late during the 2006 season as a member of the Blue Jays, and who chatted with Harvey before Tuesday’s game at the request of Mets manager Terry Collins.

Halladay, to whom surgery was at one point recommended, did not sustain a torn UCL. So the circumstances and prognoses would differ.

Nevertheless, the injuries are in the same neighborhood and related enough so Halladay’s success following an offseason rehab program — the right-hander went 104-52 from 2007-12, averaging 31 starts and 225 innings pitched per season while leading his respective league in complete games five straight years through 2011 — at least elevated Harvey’s hopes he can avoid Tommy John surgery and a recovery process that would almost certainly defer his next big league pitch until 2015.

“That was eight years ago,” Halladay told reporters last night before the Phillies’ 6-2 victory over the Mets. “I’ve never had an issue since.”

The psychological trauma Harvey suffered upon receiving the diagnosis Monday was likely more powerful than the physical trauma on his arm sustained from throwing 2,697 pitches — 26th most in the majors, approximately 340 fewer than Justin Verlander — this season.

From top of the world to the prospect of a lost 2014 in a matter of hours.

So of course the 24-year-old power pitcher would grasp at the slightest bit of hope with as much conviction as he would grip a baseball while delivering a 97 mph four-seam fastball. Why not? So would just about anyone given the opportunity to avoid surgery. Well, maybe not Walter White.

“He’s very optimistic about it,” Collins said. “With rest and other dynamics, he knows there’s a chance to avoid surgery.

“He’s in better spirits.”

No harm in being optimistic. No harm in hoping for the best. No harm, that is, as long as opinions aren’t confused with medical advice and one arm injury isn’t confused with another.

No harm as long as the prescribed course of action doesn’t create a conflict between Harvey and management, which of course would revel in the ability to hand Harvey the ball for the 2014 opener, but not if the risk in doing so far outweighs the reward.

Harvey was optimistic Tuesday but was in no mood to discuss anything yesterday. Approached in the clubhouse before the game, Harvey waved away a handful of writers poised to inquire about his tweet and interaction with Halladay.

“I already gave a press conference [on Monday],” the pitcher said. “I’m good [not speaking].”

It will be another three weeks before Harvey is re-examined as physicians wait for the swelling in his forearm to diminish so they can get a more accurate picture of the tear and the appropriate course of action.

Until then, if then, this is all conjecture. There is no way of knowing the severity of the injury, though a UCL partial tear is severe enough to indicate Tommy John surgery will more likely than not be required.

It’s a pick your poison scenario, but given the choice, Mets management would likely take the long view and sacrifice next season while protecting the investment for the future in recommending surgery.

Harvey, however, might opt to delay surgery if that possibility should even exist, and pitch until his arm falls off, if not literally.

There is this, too, that might play into Harvey’s mental state: Though pitchers such as Stephen Strasburg, Adam Wainwright, A.J. Burnett and, well, Tommy John, have prospered after undergoing Tommy John surgery, not one of the pitchers with baseball’s all-time most lucrative contracts signed after submitting to that operation.

Not Verlander, Felix Hernandez, C.C. Sabathia, Zack Greinke, Cole Hamels or Johan Santana. Not one of them.

It is premature to evaluate Harvey’s options, even as he keeps his options open. Optimism is healthy, as long as it doesn’t collide with reality and doesn’t initiate a confrontation with management.

That would be a mess.