Sandy Alderson spoke to the media Thursday afternoon and revealed that Matt Harvey has been diagnosed with symptoms most likely related to Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Baseball fans have become very familiar with Tommy John surgery that is required when pitchers tear their ulnar collateral ligament. However, many aren’t familiar with this injury and it’s place in baseball.
TOS occurs when the blood vessels between the collarbone and the first rib become compressed. This usually causes pain in several different places depending on the nature of the specific injury. The shoulders, neck and fingers are all target areas for pain and numbness due to the compression.
There are many different causes of TOS, including physical trauma, anatomical defects and pregnancy. However, one of the more common causes, as is probably the case here, is repetitive injuries, sports or job-related. It is considered a repetitive stress injury (RSI) and is very common in athletes who frequently move in a motion that raises their arm(s) above their head. As you can tell from this description, pitchers sound like primary targets to be victimized by this injury. In fact, Matt Harvey is not the first pitcher to be diagnosed with this.
Several other Major League pitchers have encountered this injury including, but not limited to Josh Beckett, Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, Noah Lowry, Shaun Marcum and Kenny Rogers. Chris Young was the most recent pitcher to be diagnosed with this injury prior to Harvey. He was diagnosed with TOS during his time in the Washington Nationals farm system.
It’s important to note that Young has an onslaught of arm injuries before this diagnosis. He spent time on the disabled list with multiple shoulder and forearm strains. In 2009, he had surgery on his torn labrum in his throwing shoulder. Shortly after, he tore that same shoulder’s anterior capsule.
In 2009, he made a total of nine starts in the minors before being shut down to have surgery. The injury stifled Young’s velocity while causing immense pain on and off the field. He tried many treatment options including physical therapy, soft-tissue exercises, massage therapy and chiropractic adjustments before having surgery.
The 33-year old was resilient and was able to return to the majors to become the 2014 MLB Comeback Player of The Year while pitching with the Seattle Mariners. He then signed a contract with the Kansas City Royals, going on to win a championship with them.
TOS experts including Clark Fuller, a TOS surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. note that the condition is probably vastly undiagnosed in baseball. “We don’t have a really good, objective test for it,” Fuller said.
What does all this mean for Matt Harvey? Harvey is much younger than Young was at the time of his diagnosis. Beckett (33), Garcia (28), Rogers (36) and Carpenter (37) were all older than Harvey is now as well. The 27-year olds body will hopefully be more resilient during his recovery process. Pitchers have been able to have successful careers post-surgery.
The team and Harvey are still weighing their treatment options. Surgery would most likely end the Dark Knight’s season and require at least four months of recovery.
