Matt Harvey nearing Orioles reunion as possible MLB suspension looms

Matt Harvey’s return to the mound may come sooner rather than later.

The Post’s Jon Heyman reported Thursday that the free-agent right-hander is close to a minor-league deal with the Orioles. The plan is for Harvey, who spent the 2021 season with Baltimore, to start in Florida in the Orioles’ extended spring camp.

Last month, Heyman reported that Harvey was drawing interest from teams, just days after the 33-year-old posted an Instagram video that showed him throwing pitches at 95 mph on the radar gun.

In February, MLB said the former Mets ace might face an immediate suspension of at least 60 days for his admission in federal court that he supplied opioids to late Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs on several occasions. Harvey would be able to appeal any suspension.

Harvey and other players testified in February in the federal criminal trial of Eric Kay, the former Angels communications director, who was accused and later convicted of distributing a controlled substance to Skaggs, resulting in his drug-related death in July 2019. 

Kay, who faces between 20 years to life in federal prison, has a sentencing hearing scheduled for June 28.

Harvey, who also admitted to cocaine use at the trial, spent the 2021 season with the Orioles and was shut down in September due to a right knee ailment. He finished the season with a 6-14 record and 6.27 ERA with 95 strikeouts in 28 starts. The Orioles chose not to retain him, making him a free agent.

Harvey started his MLB career with the Mets, starring on the Citi Field mound from 2012-18 before short stints with the Reds, Angels and Royals.