WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Nationals added an intriguing arm to their bullpen mix Monday, claiming hard-throwing right-hander Hunter Harvey off waivers from the Giants. The club also lost righty Jhon Romero on waivers to the Twins in a separate transaction.
Harvey, 27, is a former first-round Draft pick and top prospect of the Orioles, for whom he made an electric, long-awaited debut down the stretch in 2019. Baltimore then tried unsuccessfully to groom Harvey to close games for much of the next two years, but the injury issues that plagued him as a prospect never allowed that plan to blossom. Instead, oblique and shoulder problems limited Harvey to 19 games between 2020-’21; in the Minors, he missed two full years and parts of three others to elbow and shoulder woes.
“The good news is that he is healthy,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “When he’s healthy, we know he has really good stuff.”
Asked if he would reach out to Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, his old friend from their days coaching together in Chicago, about Harvey, Martinez said he probably would. Hyde is likely to give a glowing scouting report of Harvey, who wowed the Orioles when healthy and drew high marks for how he handled what was a near-constant barrage of setbacks.
But it was a relentlessly frustrating climb. Because of the injuries, it took Harvey six years to rise through Baltimore’s system, despite his obvious talent. He then made just 26 total appearances in an Orioles uniform.
When he was on the mound, Harvey featured a tantalizing arsenal. His four-seam fastball flirts with triple digits, living in the high 90s with excellent late ride. An upper-80s splitter is the better of his two offspeed offerings, and Harvey also uses a sharp curve to get swings-and-misses below the zone. He was taught the splitter by his father, former All-Star closer Bryan Harvey.
The Nationals finished 2021 with right-hander Kyle Finnegan closing games, and are expecting bouncebacks from righties Tanner Rainey and Will Harris after injury-plagued campaigns of their own. Former All-Star closer Sean Doolittle is back in camp, reunited with Washington via free agency last week. The Nats also brought in situational righty Steve Cishek, a durable veteran who should get plenty of leverage innings.
It’ll take a strong camp, but Harvey could pitch his way into this mix if he can prove durable this spring.