With a tear in his elbow and a long gaze lost on the game before him, Matt Harvey received a much-needed hug from battery mate and friend John Buck.
Next Impulse Sports happened upon this video reminding us that baseball giveth and it can most certainly taketh away.
One minute Harvey is the king of New York, dazzling fans and befuddling batters during a superb season that had him in the discussion for a Cy Young award.
The next, the 24-year-old is faced with a partial tear in his ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow, likely bringing an end to his season, via ESPN.
These are the time you just need a hug.
The Mets are 58-71 and 19.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves after dropping Monday’s game to the Phillies. Really, there is nothing more to play for this season.
That hardly extinguishes the passion to pitch that no doubt fuels Harvey, who will now hit the disabled list.
As ESPN reports, Harvey is hoping to strengthen the area around the tear, but it might be more likely that Tommy John surgery and a presumed 12-month recovery are in the young pitcher’s future.
For those of us who watched this kid put together a spectacular season wherein he garnered nine wins, 191 strikeouts and a 0.93 WHIP, we are now reminded of the obvious notion that Harvey is human despite some of his superhuman feats.
Perhaps Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer said it best when he tweeted what we were all thinking.
Can’t Matt Harvey just, I don’t know, regenerate or something?
— Zachary D. Rymer (@zachrymer) August 26, 2013
Sadly, no.
Harvey is just some dude, and we are all prone to getting injured. Harvey will be back and hopefully just as good as when he left.
Still, the fact that he has to hit the DL, well, stinks. Good thing there are guys like Buck around to lend a shoulder.
This season has been anything but pretty for the Mets, but it was certainly beautiful in the dugout on Monday night.
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