The Colorado Rockies have lost relief pitcher Joe Harvey for a period of time. The right-handed middle reliever appeared to strain something on a pitch in the later innings of Thursday’s loss to the Houston Astros. Harvey is just the latest pitching injury in the Colorado organization, but it comes at a time when the team is struggling. The news was announced on Friday that Harvey was placed on the 10-day IL with a right elbow sprain.
#Rockies recalled LHP James Pazos from their alternate training site and have placed RHP Joe Harvey on the 10-day injured list with a right elbow sprain.
— Patrick Saunders (@psaundersdp) August 21, 2020
Rockies Reliever Joe Harvey Injured
Harvey has been effective in his small sample in 2020. The 28-year-old has a 0.00 ERA with two strikeouts and no walks in 3 1/3 innings. That is a significantly better start than in 2019. Harvey threw a combined 18 innings with a 5.00 ERA for the Rockies and New York Yankees. That figure came with 17 strikeouts, 11 walks, and three home runs allowed. His velocities are unchanged this year, but he is throwing a slider roughly 20 percent more frequently. The heavy usage of breaking pitches is something working for several other Rockies hurlers, so that could be part of Harvey’s early effectiveness.
The Yankees originally drafted Harvey in the 19th round of the 2014 Draft. He debuted last year with the numbers listed above but was impressive in the minor leagues prior to 2019. Harvey had a 2.93 ERA in 89 innings in Triple-A, which was his longest stop at any minor league level. He posted an ERA above 2.00 only once at A-level Charleston in the South Atlantic League. Harvey has the potential to reach that level of domination in the majors, but he needs to recover and get more innings soon.
What This Means for the Future
The Rockies recalled James Pazos from the team’s alternate site. They have three other pitchers on the 40-man roster they could use as well. Jose Mujica, Antonio Santos, and Ben Bowden all have some promise as relievers, but none have pitched a major league game yet. The trade deadline is approaching as well. Colorado might make a trade instead of promoting a pitcher if the bullpen continues to deplete itself.
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