In 2018, Hunter Harvey finds out how far his long road back takes him

Source: www.masnsports.com --- Friday, February 02, 2018
Here is an interesting fact about Orioles pitching prospect Hunter Harvey . He has already been ranked by Baseball America among the club's top four prospects four times. This despite having never pitched through a full season and having not yet pitched above low Single-A Baseball. Clearly there is plenty of talent and potential here even if there is not yet an abundance of innings or game experience. But this could be a season where - knock on wood - Harvey pitches start to finish and rises above Single-A Delmarva. Maybe well above that level. A lot is expected of a pitcher who was once ranked No. 38 on the ESPN top 100 prospects list. That came after the 2013 season. In the latest O's top 10 prospects lists, ESPN and Baseball America rank Harvey No. 4 and Baseball Prospectus rated him No. 6. Since he was drafted by the Orioles 22nd overall in the summer of 2013, Harvey has dealt with a shin injury and had a sports hernia procedure. On top of that, he needed Tommy John surgery in July 2016. That limited the 23-year-old right-hander to 31 1/3 combined innings in 2016 and 2017. But he then returned to pitch last season and made it back to game action in July - he did so one week before the one-year anniversary date of his surgery. That was impressive. So was the fact he gave up just two runs and 11 hits over 18 2/3 combined innings between the GCL Orioles, short-season Single-A Aberdeen and Delmarva. He issued six walks and fanne ...

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