Washington Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg said the best advice he can give New York Mets ace Matt Harvey as he recovers from Tommy John surgery is to take it slow.
“I learned the hard way,” Strasburg told the New York Post.
Like Harvey, Strasburg blew out his pitching elbow near the end of his rookie season in 2010 and needed the surgery. He came back toward the end of the following season, making five starts.
Harvey had surgery in October and is expected to miss all of this season.
Strasburg said Harvey should not feel discouraged because recovery is a slow process.
“It can flip on you,” he said. “You’ll feel great one day and the next day it’s terrible. The best advice I got was, ‘Look where you were at the start of the month and then at the end of the month. Don’t look at where you were yesterday.’ ”
Harvey and Strasburg share Scott Boras their agent.
Harvey went 9-5 with a 2.27 ERA and started the All-Star Game for the National League in New York last year before being shut down in August.