RADIO
CURRENT ADP: 66
RANKINGS STATUS: Undervalued
ANALYSIS: Matt Harvey is being underrated this year because he is coming off Tommy John Surgery, which caused him to miss the entire 2014 season. Having been sidelined for 18 months, many anticipate that Harvey will struggle to reclaim his dominance at the start of the 2015 campaign. That is a possibility, since every pitcher can recover from Tommy John Surgery differently. His potential and upside are what make him underrated in this year's fantasy baseball drafts.
Usually, an ADP of 66.0 would be considered high for a pitcher coming of Tommy John Surgery, but Harvey is a bit of a special case. Harvey had asked the Mets to let him pitch in September of 2013, showing that he was already healed enough to begin his progression back to the mound. The Mets did not grant Harvey his wish, and held him out until spring training 2015, allowing a lot more time to recover and strengthen his right arm than most post-surgery pitchers receive.
In Harvey’s first start of the spring, he pitched two perfect innings with 3 Ks. Spring training starts usually do not really prove anything, but Harvey was back to reaching 99 MPH and breaking off absolutely filthy curveballs, just like he did pre-surgery. If the eye test is any measure of proof, then Harvey showed he was back to his old self in his first start because he looked exactly like he did during his dominant breakout season of 2013.
It is easy to see why some would be nervous about drafting a recovering pitcher so high, but based on his tremendous potential, his draft status is undervalued. Currently, Harvey ranks behind pitchers like Alex Cobb and Cole Hamels, to name a few. If Harvey is as healthy and as ready as he looks, he will have a dominant Cy Young-type season for the Mets, making him a medium risk, very high reward candidate as draft day approaches.
Don’t forget to read all of RotoBaller’s 2015 fantasy baseball rankings analysis.
