In another terrible turn for Matt Harvey this season, it has been announced that Harvey has been diagnosed with symptoms consistent with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, after meeting with Dr. Robert Thompson in St. Louis today. Thompson who is regarded as the leading specialist in TOS, handed down the bad news to Harvey and he is now contemplating season ending surgery. While his shoulder will have to be operated on sooner or later, he is also contemplating a non-surgical injection that could help treat his condition temporarily and let him pitch the remainder of the season.

Looking up the condition of TOS, it has been described as compressed nerves or blood vessels between both the collarbone and rib cage. In something that already sounds painful, the disorder leads to neck and shoulder pain, as well as numbness.

Either way it is not a positive diagnosis for Harvey who has taken a step back this season, and this disorder could possibly be one of the primary factors to him taking that step back.  If Harvey were to go under the knife he would miss the rest of the season, and could possibly miss time next season depending on when he has the surgery.

There is no telling how Harvey will come back from the surgery as many pitchers have come back differently from the operation. Kansas City Royals starter Chris Young is one the success stories and has revitalized his career after having the operation. Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Phil Hughes underwent the operation earlier this week to alleviate his symptoms that he had also been experiencing.

The Mets will give Harvey a few days to mull over his decision, and right-hander Logan Verrett will slide into Harvey’s rotation spot. With many of the Mets starters banged up, it is a fair question to wonder, if will we ever see Harvey, deGrom, Syndergaard, Matz, and Wheeler all in the starting rotation at the same time?