Matt Harvey: New York Mets pitcher to undergo season-ending surgery

New York Mets right-handed starting pitcher Matt Harvey has elected to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.

Harvey will have surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome in his right shoulder, agent Scott Boras told ESPN on Friday.

"The doctors clearly recommended that he have this done, mainly so that he can be ready for '17," Boras said. "The rehab on this is six months. Now, if there was a small window of a season, you might be able to take a shot. It's actually Botox, which relaxes the muscles. That's not a long-term solution.

"The only way this is going to be treated appropriately -- and obviously we don't want to do anything to affect next year -- is to get this surgically taken care of."

Dr. Robert Thompson in St. Louis will conduct the surgery. Thompson diagnosed Harvey on Thursday, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said.

The 27-year-old Harvey was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday after experiencing discomfort in his throwing shoulder. Subsequent testing revealed symptoms consistent with thoracic outlet syndrome. The issue involves a constriction of the opening in which nerves and blood vessels pass between the neck and shoulder.

Boras said the syndrome is the reason Harvey has underperformed this season.

"He just didn't feel he had the command and feeling," Boras told ESPN. "He just didn't really feel he was himself mechanically. He couldn't stay behind the ball. He felt strong body-wise, but just something was there. Finally, when this thing got a little more pronounced, we said let's take a look at this potential option and got him to Dr. Thompson. Sure enough, he strongly tested positive for TOS.

"He's felt this way since spring training, but he wanted to gut it out, try to do it, until finally he's going, 'Look, I'm just feeling like I don't feel the baseball the same.' Once we heard that, I was like, 'Maybe we have a TOS situation,' and got him over to Dr. Thompson."

In his second season back from Tommy John surgery, Harvey is 4-10 with a 4.86 ERA in 17 starts.

An All-Star in 2013, Harvey missed the 2014 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Last season, he returned to pitch 216 innings between the regular season and the playoffs. Overall for his career, Harvey is 29-28 with a 2.94 ERA.

After giving up six runs (five earned) on 11 hits over 3 2/3 innings in an 8-6 win over the Miami Marlins on Monday, Harvey complained of numbness and discomfort in his right shoulder.

"He came in the training room afterward and said, 'My shoulder is dead. My arm is dead. There's no energy there. I couldn't feel the ball,'" Mets manager Terry Collins said. "Obviously it was happening during the game. He didn't say anything until after the game."