Harvey finally gets the chance to make exhibition start

SARASOTA, Fla. - As a regular presence in major league camp whether healthy, injured or recovering, Hunter Harvey would figure to own at least a couple of Grapefruit League starts. He's always been thrust into a rotation, the bullpen only serving as a place to warm up.

Three relief appearances in 2015 and 2016. That's the extent of his spring training experience.

The streak ends today with Harvey, no longer slow-played or stalled due to physical issues, including Tommy John surgery in July 2016, taking the mound in the bottom of the first inning to face the Rays in Port Charlotte.

"It seems like he has," said manager Buck Showalter. "He's been around big league locker rooms a lot in his life with his dad (Bryan). When you draft a major leaguer's son, some of that stuff isn't as much of an adjustment, but I don't think he's a guy who's going to get too amped up about things. He knows we have his best interests at heart and he's right where he needs to be.

"I'm just hoping he gets through those two innings feeling good about himself. He's not worried about, is this going to hurt anymore when he's throwing. I think it's something that even when we drafted him, we knew that at some point this (surgery) was going to happen, so it's good to finally get it behind us. And he's still a young man."

Only 23 and filled with knowledge as more of an observer over the years.

"Yeah, I didn't play, so that kind of made everybody think that there would be a setback for the development, but even though I was sitting down here, I was learning about my body and what I needed to do to take care of it," Harvey said.

"I still watched almost every game we played and I watched all the other games, watching (Clayton) Kershaw and (Corey) Kluber, just trying to learn anything I could. So I felt like it helped a little bit."

The spring mishaps with Harvey tended to happen away from camp. The fractured right fibula from a comebacker during a March 2015 game in Fort Myers shortly after the Orioles reassigned him. A shortened start at Twin Lakes Park in March 2016 due to discomfort in his groin that eventually led to sports hernia surgery.

(In a completely unrelated story, on the same night that Harvey sustained the groin injury, the Orioles acquired infielder Erick Salcedo and outfielder Natanael Delgado from the Angels for left-hander Chris Jones. Salcedo is competing for a utility job.)

The ligament-reconstructive surgery that followed the strained flexor mass has caused the longest delay in Harvey's ascent to staff ace. He's fully recovered, but has Showalter reached a point where it's no longer necessary to consider it while handling him?

It's a little complicated.

"Yes and no," Showalter said. "You've got to still look for it, but I found that with guys like him and Dylan (Bundy), they don't want to go back there, so they're going to be real honest and frank. I trust them. They spend a lot of time talking.

"The rehab and the surgeries are, knock on wood, so good now that you get to this point where he's at, you feel pretty good about your chances."

Harvey still carries that youthful appearance despite the ... youthful mustache. He's put on some needed weight, a thin frame slowly beginning to fill out.

What does his manager notice?

"Just that he's healthy," Showalter said. "You can tell just by his body and everything. Just the body language is very confident.

"I think I'll know more about it after his outing and see if he carries it over there, but I know he's really excited about getting some of these physical challenges behind him and knowing that he's dealt with it and he can go forward now. I think there's a real calm about him now because he knows he's capable of going out and showing what he can do."

"I'm excited about it," Harvey said. "I'm ready to get going, ready to get back on the mound."

Always as a starter in the minors. Finally as a starter in major league camp.