The worst thing that can happen to the Mets is them losing one of their pitchers for any period of time. With Matt Harvey‘s undisclosed and unknown medical situation, this fear is now a reality. 

The scary part about it is how it has escalated. First, the Mets assumed he was hung over. Then, they thought it wouldn’t prevent him from making his next Spring Training start. Now, he’s flying back to New York for further examination. He’s most likely going to miss Opening Day. The players don’t know what’s going on, and they are praying for him. 

The only thing we do know is Harvey’s arm is fine, or as only Terry Collins can put it, “His arm is fine!  His arm is fine!  Ok?  His arm is fine.”  This is leading to speculation as to what is wrong with Harvey, and there is no shortage of opinions. 

This is because no one knows what’s happening. Part of that is HIPAA laws. Part of that is the Mets making an announcement before having all of the information. A large part of it is Harvey’s Bravo appearance and general assumptions fans have about him. 

Hopefully, this is a relatively minor issue not only because of the Mets season, but more importantly, this is a man’s health we are talking about here. With that said, I’m reminded of other instances where a player’s health has postponed, derailed, or ended a player’s career. 

As Mets fans, we have seen our fair share of problems. There was Ike Davis‘ bout with Valley Fever. Jose Reyes was found to have a thyroid condition. Just last year, there was David Wright and his spinal stenosis diagnosis. Elsewhere, there have been far more life threatening medical issues. 

Jon Lester battled lymphoma before coming back and winning the clincher of the 2004 World Series. Brian Picolo would go from an NFL player to dying from cancer. There was also the day fifteen years ago when Magic Johnson retired from the NBA when he discovered he contracted HIV. 
We don’t know what Harvey’s medical issue is.  We may never know. The only thing we do know is no one wants to see something happen that will not only forever alter Harvey’s career, but also his life. So while we know his arm is alright, we don’t know if he’s alright. We don’t know what, if any effect, this will all have on his career. 

Like Travis d’Arnaud and the rest of the Mets, all we can do is pray that Harvey will be alright. 

Editor’s Note: this article first appeared on metsmerizedonline.com