Hunter Harvey To Have Tommy John Surgery

Orioles righthander Hunter Harvey—who has pitched in just five games since the end of the 2014 season—will have Tommy John surgery after leaving his last start with forearm soreness. The surgery, first reported by Baseball America correspondent Roch Kubatko, will be performed on July 28 by Dr. Donald d’Alessandro in Charlotte.

Given standard Tommy John rehabilitation time, Harvey is likely to miss most, if not all, of the 2017 season. After recovering from surgery to repair a sports hernia, Harvey, 21, made five appearances this season between the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and the short-season New York-Penn League. He went 0-1, 2.13 with 18 strikeouts in 13 innings.

The surgery adds another twist to an already lengthy injury history for Harvey, the Orioles’ first-round selection in 2013 out of high school in Catawba, N.C. He made 17 starts for low Class A Delmarva in 2014 before being shut down that July with a strained right flexor mass. He missed all of the 2015 regular season while trying to rehab soreness in his elbow.

Before his appearance on June 25, Harvey hadn’t pitched in a minor league game since July 25, 2014, at low Class A Delmarva, mostly because of a strained right flexor mass. He also sustained a fractured right fibula after being hit by a comebacker during a start in 2015 spring training.

He went on the disabled list last week with a strained flexor mass, and surgery was decided upon on Thursday.

When he’s healthy, it’s easy to see why the Orioles coveted Harvey. He was the Orioles’ No. 2 prospect at midseason despite pitching just 12 2/3 innings since 2014.

His fastball sits in the low- to mid-90s and his curveball is an out pitch. He also had been working on developing his changeup. But he’s logged 126 innings since signing for a slot bonus of $1,947,600.