Blue Jays held private workout for Matt Harvey

According to Jon Heyman of the MLB Network, the Toronto Blue Jays held a private workout for pitcher Matt Harvey earlier this offseason.

Heyman discussed free-agent Matt Harvey on a recent episode of the “Big Time Baseball Podcast” informing listeners that the Blue Jays seriously considered signing Matt Harvey after running him through a workout several weeks back.

Harvey had a disastrous 2019 campaign with the Los Angeles Angels posting an inflated 7.09 earned run average in 12 starts. The Halos would eventually release the 30-year old on July 21st leading to his signing with the Oakland Athletics in August. Harvey made five appearances for the Athletics Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas but did not work his way back to the majors before the end of the season.

The “Dark Knight” was one of the best pitchers in the game dating back to a three-year stretch between 2012-2015. Harvey is just a shell of his former self and should be considered organizational depth at this point in his career.

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The Blue Jays realistically have a ton of pitching depth and plenty of more viable options than Harvey should the need arise. Harvey remains a free-agent and has garnered little interest from teams around the league.

The timetable is vague when the Blue Jays held the workout for Harvey but they left no rock unturned this offseason attempting to shore up their arm issues. The team landed Hyun-Jin Ryu, Tanner Roark, Chase Anderson, Shun Yamaguchi, Anthony Bass, and Rafael Dolis this offseason.

Coupled with the new additions, the Jays also have the likes of Ryan Borucki, Anthony Kay, Sean Reid-Foley, Yennsy Diaz, Jacob Waguespack, Julian Merryweather, Elvis Luciano, and T.J. Zeuch all vying to impress in spring training.

In 2019, skipper Charlie Montoyo had to utilize 21 different starting pitchers to get through the season. This will not be an issue in 2020 as the team is much better equipped to endure the rigors of the 162-game schedule.