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Matt Harvey could get another chance in his MLB career.
While his playing future remains up in the air after admitting he distributed opiods to late Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, Harvey has been throwing heat – and the league is reportedly on notice.
“He is [drawing interest from teams],” MLB insider Jon Heyman said on the “Big Time Baseball” podcast Thursday. “My understanding is he’s throwing well. Somebody must have gone to look because I’ve heard that he’s drawing interest. I know his ERAs were not great the last few years … but we know that it’s in there, he’s not old.”
Harvey, 32, posted an Instagram video last week that showed him throwing pitches that were hitting 95 mph on the radar gun. That was enough footage to get baseball fans flooding the comments with comeback wishes. Some fans also noted in the comments that the catcher in the video appeared to be wearing Mets gear.
After crashing onto the stage with an amazing start to his career with the Mets, Harvey has bounced around the league. The righty had stints with five teams in five years with the Mets, Reds, Angels, Royals and Orioles.
Even if a team is willing to sign Harvey, he could face an immediate 60-day suspension for his admission in federal court that he supplied opioids to Skaggs on several occasions, MLB said in February.
“Obviously had some issues, which we know about, and if he gets everything in order and it looks like he’s in good shape, it might be worth taking a flier on him,” Heyman said. “But I have heard there is interest and I do expect that he will get signed somewhere.”
Harvey’s admission qualifies as distribution under MLB’s drug policy, a league official told ESPN on the condition of anonymity. The pitcher, who also admitted to cocaine use at the trial, would be able to appeal any suspension.
Harvey and other players testified last month in the federal criminal trial of Eric Kay, the former Angels communications director, who was accused and later convicted of distributing a controlled substance to Skaggs, resulting in his drug-related death in July 2019.
Skaggs, who was 27 years old, was found dead in his hotel room at the Southlake Town Square Hilton on July 1, 2019. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office later determined that Skaggs had a mixture of ethanol, fentanyl, and oxycodone in his system at the time of his death.
Kay now faces between 20 years to life in federal prison. His sentencing has been set for June 28.
Source: NYPOST
